Dog vs Wolf
by Sleazy E
Summary: A wolf pack near nome is tired of humans waste of there food, so in a last ditch effort they have begun to attack sled teams. Now balto and kodi are teaming up to fight the wolves, and to save a love.
1. Dog vs Wolf

**Dog vs. Wolf**

Kodi stood with the leather traces of his harness tightly bound to his fur. Behind him stretched eight other dogs, each of them barking and howling for the freedom to run. The job was simple; it was a two day run over the mountain to a mining camp. The mining camp was self sufficient for meat, but they lacked necessary mining supplies, and food. Their master had been hired a long time back to ferry supplies back and forth across the mountain. It was the dog's job to pull

The weather had been unreasonably cold for the past few weeks. The mercury hadn't reached anything above thirty below. They sky was a constant grey, that kept the cold near the ground. The sunrise here was short, and provided little warmth for the people, and dogs of Nome. The sun would just blink above the horizon, giving the people a bright look at the day, then the sun would sink and give them nothing but darkness.

Kodi glanced back at his master, loading large boxes of dynamite, bags of rice and other essential items for the miners. But Kodi wasn't concerned with any of the human trinkets. He was concerned about one thing His love.

Kodi had only met clover a few day's earlier, but it was love at first site. He had met her walking down the street with some of her friends. As Kodi passed her, and she passed him, they both turned their heads to look at each other. After they both caught each other they turned and kept walking each one of them blushing. Later that night Kodi met her on a street by herself. Kodi then got up the courage to talk to her, it was love to end.

"Where is she?" Kodi mumbled to himself as he grew impatient with her tardiness. Kodi looked back at his master; he began to carry the last of the rice to the sled. It was only a matter of time before they were going to set off.

"I'm here Kodi." clover said running around the corner of a building to kodi's side. Her coat was thick and well maintained, she had to of been groomed at least three times a day to have a coat like that. She was white and red with a black face. Her paws stretched far below her body, with slightly larger paws then most dogs. Her tail was large fluffy and white, it hung far down from her body and would often drag on the ground.

"I was afraid you weren't going to show." Kodi said nuzzling up to her.

"Oh Kodi you know I would never do that…but Kodi I need to tell you something…"

"Ok boys lets get ready." the master interrupted, with his booming deep voice.

"You better move clover before you get in trouble." Kodi said pushing her away with his muzzle.

Their was a new step in their masters walk that told them they were going run soon. All the dogs began jumping and throwing themselves against the harnesses. Each one digging down, down into their souls, the part that made them run. It was the part of there being, their savageness.

The master stepped up to the overloaded sled, with gear piled as high as his eyes. He couldn't see the dogs, but knew that they were lunging to take flight. He stepped up onto the runners, using his weight to weigh the team down. The sled had to weigh over a thousand pounds, but he knew his team well. He knew that these dogs would have no problem pulling this sled, and pulling it fast. He grabbed the handlebar with one hand, and the release rope with the other. He gripped his hand tighter to the bar, then with one quick clean jerk on the anchor, the sled was free and moving.

The team didn't move with a sudden quickness like the master had thought they would, but instead moved slowly, dogs still jumping into the air to lunge at the sled. After fifty feet they were up to half speed, the sled creaking and groaning under the massive weight of the gear; the breath of the dogs blowing up over their heads, then over the massive pile of gear.

Kodi looked back, as they gained distance from the town, to see clover sitting on her haunches watching him run. She was always afraid when he went out, even though she had only known him for a short time. But each time Kodi went out she would sit their until they were out of site. Then the fallowing day, late in the afternoon she would come back and wait for his return. It had become a common thing for her to do.

Kodi then lead the team up towards the river, where they dropped down onto the river ice. The trip was going to be over a hundred miles long. First the team had to run eighty miles up the river; then the team had to make a twenty mile trip up over a six thousand foot tall peak. On the other side of the peak, was the mining camp. It was next to the stream, for ample supply of water for mining, and just across the valley from an extensive expanse of tundra. The tundra carried many animal, but the most sought after was the caribou.

Kodi ran over a large crack in the ice, the sled hit it and bounced then swerved slightly. The sun had already vanished around the curve of the earth, and now nothing but a lingering darkness ruled. The only dim light in the land was the northern lights shining at Kodi's nose.

The valley was not the average v shaped valley, but it was a u shaped valley. Spruce trees that had weather many storms, and much cold, lined either side of the waterway. On the other side of the trees the valley shot up to the sky with thousand foot cliffs; Eagle nests and mountain goats dotted the cliffs. The mountain goats traversed and lived on these cliffs, relatively safe from predators, but not always the weather, a fact Kodi learned several weeks earlier.

Kodi was lying in the snow, watching his master dry his feet after falling through the ice; when he noticed the mountain goats rambling across the cliff side. They bound from rock to rock, their white fur flapping in the wind, snow swirling off the peaks just overhead. When Kodi saw it, he saw the wind a sudden gust of wind blow across the mountain top. The blast of wind sent out a swirl of snow that went from one mountain top to the other. Kodi didn't see the initial fall, but when the scream of fear reached his ears; he perked his head and could see the tuft of white fur bounce off a cliff then go out of site.

The team moved up the stream inconspicuous in this great land. The dogs struggling on, fighting the cold, the darkness, and the utter loneliness, but they weren't alone in this dark land.

Kodi hadn't noticed the signs, or perhaps he might have been able to change the event to come. But Kodi was numb to the world, when he ran; the blood ran from his head to his legs, stars and a fuzzy picture would surround his vision. And wolves didn't bother to hide themselves because of this fact.

They stood on the sides of the river watching as the dogs ran by, completely unaware of their presence. Then as the team ran by they would retreat back into the trees, race ahead, and meet them again before they passed. It was a perfect hunting tactic, one that the dogs were unaware of. The musky smell of the wolves fowled the air but Kodi was numb to this, and everything else around him, but not the overflow.

Kodi could see a patch of overflow up ahead, it was a minute difference in the way the snow flowed, but one that told him what was ahead. The master had also seen this and had already found his way to go "gee." the master yelled. Kodi took the command, and turned left up onto the dirt bank.

The wolves closed in, they crossed over the river towards the trees where the dogs were running. They moved with the swiftness and skill of an elite hunting team. They flowed with their pray, constantly moving and compensating for the quarry's movements. They ran up into the trees a hundred yards in front of the team. It was the first time that they had left their quarry's side, but they were aimed at attack.

Kodi ran through the trees, still not paying attention to the many signs of impending doom around him. The wolves formed a bottleneck, which Kodi ran headfirst into. He slid to a stop at the base of a tree, and just in front of one of the largest wolves he had ever seen.

The wolf stood twice as high as Kodi, a charcoal black coat, large enough to be a blanket on some trapper's floor. His all hearing ears were large, they were ripped to shreds, obvious the sign of a leader who has had to fight to get to the top. The wolf's feet, also giant, twice as big as Kodi's feet.

Kodi stood under this wolf's shadow, staring up at the massive creature, eyes open, mouth dropped. The master had seen this wolf had seen all the signs before this wolf, he had figured that wolves wouldn't attack. He had never been attacked by any before, so what did he half to worry about. He had sent the team up on the stream bank hoping to lose the wolves in the trees but that was a failed hope

The master grabbed for a rifle that lay on the side of all the gear. But as he pulled at the rifle he found is stuck, and stuck solid. He grabbed the rifle with both hands and ripped madly at it, trying to get the rifle free. But the rifle wouldn't budge.

Kodi stood under the wolf. "Who are you?" he said meekly. "What do you want?" the wolf didn't move or even blink; the only movement being of his blowing fur. It was a creature dead to everything outside his mind.

"Attack!" he yelled. Then with one fast jump he landed on Kodi, knocking him to the ground. Kodi fought, struggled, and bit at underbelly of the large wolf.

The master watched as the wolf jumped onto his lead dog. He made one more lunge at the rifle before a wolf shot out of the bushes and attacked him. The wolf ripped his teeth deep into the mans shoulder. At the same time he pulled the trigger on the rifle sending a shot through the sled and into the dirt underneath it.

Kodi managed to grab a little flesh of the wolf's underbelly. He ripped at it but lost his grip when the pain shot up his back. The wolf had felt the bight on his belly and bit down on Kodi's rear leg.

Wolves came out of the woodwork they leapt into the air and attacked the dogs. For each dog there were two wolves and each seemed to have already chosen their body part. Each dog had a wolf ripping at it's face, chest, or legs, then another ripping at it's hind legs or soft underbelly. Blood began flying through the air and soaking each dog and wolf in it. The wolves ripped the skin off the dogs, letting blood flow out of them and onto the ground. They bit at the dogs necks, sending showers of blood all over themselves

The master had been able to pull his knife and make a stab at one of the three wolves attacking him. He stood on his knee's, knife in his bare right had. He spun around, swinging the knife out in front of him like a sword. The wolves seemed amused by this man futile attempts to save his life. They taunted him by coming in when his back was turned and nipping at his coat or pants. At which point the man would swing around with his knife then the pattern was repeated

Kodi lay on his belly the large black wolf sitting atop him ripping at the top of his head and shoulders. Every time the large wolf went for Kodi's neck, Kodi would role a little and snap at the wolf's face; But would only hear the metallic click of his own teeth. The wolf then stood up and moved around to the front of kodi. He stood with his head hung low, looking out under his brow. Kodi stood to make an attack, when he realized that his front foot had somehow got caught in his harness. Kodi stood on his remaining legs, still ready to fight. But before he could attack, the wolf made a lunge. Kodi felt the teeth of the wolf rip into his flesh just under his ear. He watched as the stream of blood flowed out from his neck and poured over the wolf. Then darkness

The wolves watched the man still swinging the knife, then one of the wolves yelled out "get him." the wolves lunged at him all three of them biting him at once. The man jabbed the knife into the side of one of the wolves, and listened to it scream. Then the man grew cold and distant. Pain no longer seemed to effect him, he felt tired, and wanted to sleep, and so he did.


	2. Secrets

**Chapter 2 **

Clover walked lightly across the snow just out in front of the Nome general store. She walked lightly across the snow, shadowed in the arctic night. Clover was on her way to Jenna's house, it was place where she would always go when kodi was out running. Here she would hear all the crazy stories of when kodi was young.

Kodi had been adopted by a local musher to become a lead dog. The musher thought that the dog had the right character to be a lead dog, not to mention the body. When kodi's turn to prove his worth as a lead dog came, he asked his parents not to come. They agreed knowing that kodi would be embarrassed if he messed up, but they couldn't stay away. From the safety of a nearby hilltop, they watched as kodi was harnessed up at the front of the sled.

"He looked so proud." Jenna would say with a smile.

As it became time for kodi to run, he began lunging and barking like all the other dogs. Without warning the sled came loose from the anchor; the dog hurled the sled out away from the bank of the river. For a moment the team ran with a fluid like motion. Then without warning the ice cracked open, and swallowed the team.

"Their was no water under the ice, but he looked so funny as he poked his head back up and looked around." Jenna would exclaim with a laugh.

But there was something different today; there was something different about her stride. She now walked deliberately, not with the ease that she would usually walk with. She didn't walk straight towards Jenna', but instead crisscrossed across the town. When she reached the end of one street she would turn and move to the next street over. She paced her steps, planning out how far she would walk, and in what time, and if she walked to fast she would stop and wait for herself.

"How will I tell her? What will I say? What will I say to kodi? What will kodi's father say?" Clover mumbled to herself as she walked, being sure that no one was around to listen to her.

There were so many questions that she wanted answered. The main one being of what will kodi's parent's say? She stumbled about, and slowed her steps to a crawl, as she closed in on Jenna's

Clover stopped in her tracks to stare at the small building. The lumber was rough hewed and the boards were bending out because of weather and cold. The shingles on the roof were warped with several dozen shingles missing. The building had no insulations so the wind would whistle through when it got windy. But the shed was warm during the long winter months.

Clover moved around the front, but before she could get their

"Hey Clover, if your looking for me? I'm out here."

Clover turned and looked at Jenna. She was sitting with her back up against another building, she sat quietly, almost oddly she sat just out in the dark.

"What are you doing out in the dark Jenna? I figured you would be inside being it so cold."

"Oh no," Jenna said leaning forward on her front feet. "I love this weather; it feels great on my fur." Jenna paused to notice the look in Clovers eyes. Jenna noticed the way she walked the tone of her voice and knew that she had something important to say. "So what's on your mind Clover?"

Clover looked at Jenna, slightly shocked that Jenna could sense her thoughts. "How did you know?"

Jenna stood up. "Oh just your eyes, and the tone of your voice." Jenna then stepped forward a little bit and stopped in front of Clover.

"Well I guess I do have some pressing matters on my mind." Clover moved to the side a little and took a few steps away.

"What is it?"

Clover then stopped walking and turned to look at Jenna. Clover looked Jenna in the eyes, she knew her words would come fast and have little meaning, but they had to be said. "Would you like to be a grandmother?"

For a moment Jenna stared her in the eyes, the enormity of what had just been said not taking an immediate effect. "What?" came the words fast and careless.

"I'm going to have puppies."

"You mean, I'm going to be a grandmother…and Balto's going to be a grandfather."

"Yes."

"Oh my god." Jenna screamed out and began hoping around Clover. "Balto's going to be so proud to be a grandfather." Jenna jumped around more, then came to a stop at Clovers side. "How many does it feel like?"

"Oh Jenna." Clover said turning her head and rolling her eyes. "I can't tell, but you know what, when I know, you'll be the first I'll tell."

"Wait." Jenna stopped and looked her in the eyes "have you told kodi yet?"

Clover couldn't speak. She felt all fluttered inside. "No, no I haven't."

"What?"

"I meant to tell him this morning, before he ran, but I dawdled too long in my own thought."

"Well I'm glad you did." Jenna said turning and walking like she was going to walk off.

"What are you talking about?" Clover said walking after her.

Just as Jenna was about to walk off around the edge of a building she stopped, and turned around. She then walked back up to Clover's nose. "Because if you told him then, he would be wondering about it all day."

"Good point. But how should I tell him, I, I mean what should I say. When should I say it?"

Jenna thought for a moment, her eyes staring off to the side. "We could get Balto to tell him."

"That would be wonderful." Clover half yelled out

"My ears are burning." Balto said appearing from around a corner of the old shed.

"Oh, oh hi Balto." Jenna said running over to him and nuzzling up to his chest and muzzle "do you want to hear some good news?"

"Always."

"Well…" Jenna said turning and lining up her side with Balto's side.

Clover walked up to the two side by side, she then paused for a moment and sat down in front of Balto. "I hope you don't mind being a grandfather?"

"You and you? And him? And me a grandfather?"

"yup." Clover said with a smile.

"Does kodi know about this?"

Clover rubbed her feet in the snow, lightly padding the snow with her feet. Then she stared Balto in the eyes. "No, but I was hoping you might tell him?"


	3. Out in the cold

**Chapter 3 **

The temperature had taken a turn for the worst. The temperature had dropped to fifty below, a temperature that burned the nose and throat and would make trees explode due to expanding sap. The night ruled once again, making the world dark and bleak. A storm had blown up, dumping three inches of snow onto the ground, most of it being blown up off the river ice and then being deposited onto the team.

The snow had covered up most of the blood, but not the blood sprayed across the trees that had frozen solid. The sled had been turned over, with all the gear being spread from the sled to the riverbank. Behind the sled the musher lay on his belly, his coat having been ripped off his back revealing the numerous bite wounds that had bled out. In front of the sled, eight lumps stretched out in a slightly curved pattern. Each lump hadn't been completely covered by the snow, but body parts and fur stuck out the top's and out the sides of each.

Then a dog burst through the snow, his head gasping back as if he were going to let out a loud howl. Then the dog lurched forward, vomiting violently onto the snow the adrenalin that had been pumping earlier had churned his stomach too much. The dog then fell forward, falling into the pile of vomit and almost passing out.

The dog could see that the day had grown much darker, and colder. His nose burned along with his back. The dog knew that he had to make it back to Nome if he ever expected to live. But he was afraid to move. What if the wolves were still out their waiting for me? What if the cold got to me? The dog had to make an attempt.

The dog knew that he first had to check his wounds; he had remembered being bit on the middle of his back. The dog slowly began to twist his spine. The dog felt a sharp pain run up his spine, then the blood flowing down over his side and freezing solid before it could reach the snow.

"The colds the only thing keeping me alive." he whispered to himself, not wanting any nearby wolves to hear him.

Other then the large wound on the back of his head he felt reasonably well. He felt a little stiff in the joints, and he felt a little bit tired, but that was just the cold he figured.

The dog stood, dragging the traces up with him, but fell down before he could reach a full stand. The harness, he figured, that must be what was pulling him down. He rolled around a little bit, moving and contorting himself a little until the harness lay empty on the ground. The dog moved to make another stance, with several shaky moments he was standing. For a moment he stood proud that he was standing now.

Then he began to feel his legs growing weak on his left side. He began to fall, and tried valiantly to save him self, but it was in vain. The dog bumped his head up against something hard, and he laid on the ground with his paws over his head covering the spot where it hurt. When the pain began to subside he looked up. Hanging above him was the frozen foot of their leader, Kodi. The dog moved his paw up to feel the foot and found it frozen solid.

"Such a sad ending." the dog said lowering his head in respect.

The dog didn't wait around for this same end to happen to him. He once again stood with the same wobbliness. For a moment he stood still, then he reached out with one foot, then one of his hind legs. His hind legs were stiff and unmoving. He fell on his side, depressed at the fact that his hips had become to cold for movement. He stood once again, this time he moved a little bit more, then fell.

"This isn't going to work." he whispered to himself. "I'm going to half to crawl."

The dog began to move towards the river. He drug himself with his front feet and drug his hind end along the ground behind him. As his front legs began to loose their stiffness, he began to pull himself up on his hind legs and take a few steps. The steps were small and he would usually fall over on his side before he could make it too far. But each time he did it he would walk a few more steps before falling over. Within a half hour he was able to walk up to a hundred feet in one shot. But no matter how much he tried he couldn't get warm enough to make it any further, which meant that he wouldn't be able to make a run for it.

The dog made his way along down the river, and always being sure to keep close to the bank. Having trouble walking for a long time, and not wanting to be caught out in the open, he would aim for a certain spot along the river. When he found a spot that he felt he could reach, he would stand and half hobble towards the spot.

The night distorted his perception of distance and time. Several times through the dark he thought the cover he was aiming for was close, and large, when in reality it was far and much too small for him to hide in. he began to realize that this would be a problem when he reached the field.

He stood at the edge of thicket, looking out across the field. The field stretched for nearly two hundred feet downstream, and from the base of the large cliffs on either side of the valley. Scattered across the field were the countless uprooted trees, and rocks, that had been laid this way after hundreds of avalanches during bad storms. Running almost straight down the valley was the frozen over stream, with the cracked and groaning ice.

It was hard to see all this in the dark but it was clearly visible to a dog with the good night vision he had. As he stared across the field he worried. He worried about the wolves, and where they were. He scanned either side of the valley, searching for the pinpoint sign that would declare their position. But even if he knew where the wolves were he would still half to cross the field.

He dropped down out of the thicket, dragging his body over the small logs lodged in it. At the river he drug his body downstream to the last bit of cover. The dog looked down the river, finding the spot where he would be able to drop behind and hide. There was none. He measured out how far it would be in one shot. After several seconds which seemed like minutes he had it, it was three times as far as he could go in a single shot. It was a risky business; he noticed that the sides of the river gradually got lower, which meant that he would half to run low. There was no use waiting, there was nothing to wait for. So in his head he began the countdown. _Three, two, one._

The dog shot out of his cover. He ran low to the ground almost low enough that his chin drug on the ground. His hind legs bounded along behind him, leaping forward with their stiffness. But as he ran he started to realize that on his right the bank was becoming lower, lower then he had previously thought. He watched the bank come down, and the mountain go up. The dog tried to get lower and lower until his chin began to bounce off the ground. His hind legs began to run out from under him

_No no no. _ He screamed in his mind. He struggled to regain his balance without raising his head. The dog had no choice; he raised himself up but only tripped over his own legs and fell with a. "oofh."

As he lay there hoping that no wolf had seen him, a low howl began to rise over the land, The dog knew nothing of wolf howls, but just by the tone of it he figured it was the hunting call.

Two wolves stood on the hillside, watching the river and field very carefully. They both sat under a spruce tree that had the lower limbs ripped off. The wind was blowing, and even the cover of the tree was unable to keep it out. The storm had let up, and for the first time they were able to see the river. Their fur had little protection from the blowing wind that came with the end of the storm. Their faces were thin, their skulls clearly visible under their fur, with frozen blood down their muzzles and chest. Their ribs stuck out like the ridges of mountains, and their stomachs sunk up to their backs. They had the focus of a hawk on the field, and riverbank.

"Why did Agrona send us up here anyway?" the younger wolf said turning and looking at the older one

"Because you have the energy of a puppy, and I have the brains to go with It." the older one said without moving.

"But why is it always you and me that get this job? While Agrona is out hunting with the rest of the pack." the pup said turning his head toward the older one again.

"Because you're in training, and until you learn the brains that go along with all your responsibilities, I half to fallow, and train you." he said with a low growl.

For a moment the two were quiet, listening to the breeze blow through their fur. Then the young one turned to the older one again. "I don't trust Agrona in his ways."

"What!"

"I mean I think he is leading us down a trail that leads nowhere." the young one stepped forward a little bit.

The older wolf, seeing the young ones insolence opened his mouth, and bit at the side of his head. The bight wasn't to intentionally inflict harm but just meant to put him in his place. The young wolf received a bloody scratch along the side of his head; he yelped out in pain then dove away from him. The young wolf knew his place, and that you don't attack an older member of the pack, so he let the conversation drop.

"I don't know why were up here. I mean we killed those dumb dogs dead, it isn't like there ever coming back." the young wolf said with a smile, but the older one wasn't amused.

"It doesn't matter." he growled. "Because more dogs and more humans will come. They will come looking for the missing team, and we will kill them too." the older wolf said with unnerving courage. Then the silence rained for several seconds while the wind blew through the valley.

"I'm starving." the young wolf stated.

"Shut it, I'm starving too, but we wont eat until someone comes and takes our place."

For a moment the two were silent again. Then the young wolf charged forward.

"Did you see that?" he yelled back. "I saw something down their." he yelled, struggling to be heard over the howling wind.

"Would you quit it, your belly's just aching." the older wolf began to step forward

"No no no I saw something down their."

The older wolf came to a stop next to the younger one. "Ok where did you see it?"

"Down their, where the last cover is upstream. What ever it was it was running downstream." the young one said his nose pointed out over the stream.

"There there, did you see it?" the young one stepped forward again. Then turning and looking at the older one for confirmation. The older one shook his head in an agreeing manner. It was time to hunt.

The dog fell over and came to a stop under the cover of the thicket downstream. He looked about the young willow trees that covered either side of the river. He had to find a place to hide if he expected to make it back to Nome in one piece. As His adrenaline pumped, and his heart raced, he scanned the nearby bank for a suitable hiding place.

"Aha!" he yelled out, having found a place to hide. It was set up in the thicket on the right side of the stream. It was a pile of old grey logs covered by snow that had a small opening on one side, just big enough for him to crawl inside.

He got to his feet, and bound in the seesaw fashion to the edge of the thicket. He dove headfirst through the thumb sized trees, and crawled. Stretching out with his front paws and dragging his hind end behind him. It was tough moving through the trees, but possible.

At the log pile he found that the place he thought he could hide wasn't big enough for him. It was only half the size of him. "No, no, no." he whispered to himself in disgust. He had no time to find another hiding place, this would half to work. He bedded himself down in between two logs, and with his free paw he moved snow over the back of his head and remaining body. He had a clear view of the river so he waited and hoped.

Two wolves slid across the ice, snow running up their legs as they came to a stop. As soon as they were stopped, they put their noses to the ice. For a moment they remained still, each sniffing the spot in between their front legs. Then they circled each other, searching for the smell, and then one of the wolves got it. He turned straight for the place where the young dog was hiding. He squinted in the low light, then opened his eyes wide. "I see him." came the wolf closest to him, the other one running up behind him.

The young dog, scared and full of adrenaline, bolted from his hiding place. He sent up a flurry of snow from where he had been hiding, and flew further into the brush. The closest wolf dove forward, the trees stopping him before he could make it more then three feet in. the young dog crawled franticly at the base of the tree, and he then burst into the open field. To his right the other wolf had moved around the brush and was now charging straight for him. The dog tried to run but knew this was feeble; he instead turned back into the tree but hadn't gained enough distance from the wolf. The wolf made a dive through the air, landing on the square of the dogs back.

The dog screamed in pain as the wolf's weight pushed him into the snow. The wolf then leaned forward and began to rip at the back of the young dogs head. He opened the wound, that was already their, wider then it had previously bin. Blood spewed forth onto the snow under the dog.

The second wolf moved up through the trees, squeezing and forcing his way through it. He then reached out with his jaws, and grasped hold of the dogs left front foot. Then dragging the dog, with the other wolf on top, he pulled him out of the brush and onto the ice. Their, the two wolves proceeded to finish the job they hadn't earlier.

The two wolves ripped and tore at the dog. One wolf grasped at the dogs hump, and tore the flesh down over his tail, and down along his leg. The other wolf grasped at the dogs neck, and began to rip and tear at his chest, and tore at the dogs face, blood flew and drained from the dog. For what seemed several minutes the two wolves bled the dog until the call went out.

It was a howl not more then ten feet away. The two wolves let off their attack and turned to the source of the howl. The dog lay on the ground his face half skinned; he coughed blood and made a puddle of it under his nose. But there was still enough energy in the dog to know what was going on

The dog turned and looked at the source of the howl. The dark wolf stood at the edge of the river. On either side of him were two equally large wolves, with slate gray fur. The large black wolf stared for a moment at the two wolves that had been attacking him. The two wolves stepped forward.

"Why did you stop us we were finishing the job we had not finished earlier." a younger voice sounded. The black wolf let a low growl, then with one slashing attack he ripped the young wolf's eye out. The younger wolf screamed in pain, swinging around letting blood and some blackish fluid fly about. The wolf then stopped and held his head low as the fluid and blood poured from his eye. The large black wolf stepped forward.

"Maybe this will teach you, to not speak like that to your elders." he said through his teeth.

The wolf then turned and walked towards the young dog on the ground. He stood over the dog, watching him slowly bleed. The wounds were freezing fast so he was going to live. But this didn't concern the black wolf.

"Do you know who I am?" the large black wolf said in the most calm, secure voice the dog had ever heard. The young dog shook his head with a negative.

"I am Agrona. The leader of this wolf pack." he said raising his head up as if talking to a large audience. The dog moved his head around and could see that thirty wolves had moved in silently. They all stared at him bleeding on the ground.

"This dog shall live." the large dog commended. "On one condition, you will go to the town, and deliver this message to the dogs."

The dog shrunk down under the wolf's gaping body that hovered just above him. The dog was afraid when the wolves laughed in unison. Something was going to happen.


	4. The truth is told

**Chapter 4 **

It was already late in the afternoon when they set out to meet kodi. The streets were pitch black. Usually the moon or northern lights would shine, but with the storm to the north, it was dark. The temperature still hadn't reached anything over thirty below. In the mountains the temperature had dropped to forty five below, with a wind-chill factor of seventy below.

Balto had worried about the storm; kodi would be running back through this weather. But, Balto tried not to worry, kodi was a big dog and could handle himself, he knew his limits. It was just the fathering instinct that made him worry.

Balto walked with his head held high, his tail straight out and his feet rising high above the snow with each step. It wasn't his idea to walk this way it had been the idea of clover and Jenna. The entire morning clover and Jenna had thought of all the different ways to tell kodi. They had thought to make kodi come find them, but that was to mean so they instead decided to meet kodi. But for the rest of the morning and early afternoon they had used Balto as their stooge. He walked the way they told him. He played kodi and when clover told him he was going to be a father, he would over exaggerate his reaction. Clover and Jenna would almost fall over from laughter each time he did it.

But now the day of rehearsing was over and Balto could get on with the real thing. Even though he hated to walk this way he did it for their amusement. The plan was simple, but yet Balto knew that it wasn't going to be how clover and Jenna thought it would be. But Balto would make sure it would go as best it could. Balto would walk up in a happy go lucky manner he was walking in now. Then when kodi noticed how his father was walking and ask what he was so proud of he would congratulate kodi on being a father.

Balto could hardly wait to see the look on kodi's face. He thought back to when Jenna told him he was going to be a father. He had wished so bad that he could have seen his face. But now he was going to see his sons face. Balto turned his head to see Jenna walking next to clover.

Clover had spent the better part of an hour licking her fur until it was just the way she wanted it. Clover kept glancing over at Jenna, searching for a reassuring smile to let her know that everything was ok. She walked carefully, keeping track of her steps. It wasn't a thing to make sure she was walking correctly but it was more to keep her mind off of it. Clover looked so often at Jenna that Jenna stopped looking where she was walking. Every few seconds clover would look over, and Jenna would smile, in the one block that they had traveled clover had looked over at Jenna numerous times.

Balto rounded the corner of the fading yellow building, and could see the team standing out in the darkness. He picked up the pace, then suddenly slowed. There was something wrong, something was out of place. Balto quickly picked it out.

The first thing Balto noticed was the lantern, the lantern was always kept lit when a team was out on the trail. Balto could see the yellow lantern that hung on the building just outside the door. Several musher's stood under it talking, they wouldn't have just left the team hooked up, they would have been unhooking dogs. The dogs, the dogs were faced the wrong way, and it wasn't Kodi's team. Balto could see the faces of dogs he knew didn't run with kodi.

Balto picked up the pace. Clover and Jenna watched Balto pick up the pace. Jenna watched his movements and could tell that something was wrong. It was the way he walked; he no longer walked with the happy go lucky charm.

Balto slowed once he got to the back of the team. He looked at the humans under the lantern light. One of them was dressed in the large mushing coat, it was long enough to hang down to the mushers ankles. Around his face was a wool scarf, with the beaver skin trappers' hat.

Balto then looked at the gear in the sled. Balto recognized the symbol on a large tin metal box; it was the same symbol that he had seen in the doctors' office. It was uncommon for a sled driver to carry such a large tin box full of medical supplies. There was also a large rubber blanket; Balto looked at it with half shock. He had seen one when an old man died in his home, and they carried him out in the same looking blanket. Balto knew this was not a rescue mission; this was a search and recovery mission.

Balto moved up the sled, searching for a dog he could recognize. At the front of the sled Balto found Nikke and Kaltag. Kaltag jumped when Balto pulled up next to him.

"What's going on? Where's kodi?" Balto said in a very serious tone.

"Balto, I, um, Balto there's something I half to tell you." Kaltag looked away; he did it to work up the courage to tell Balto the truth.

"What?" Balto waited impatiently. In his mind he knew what was going to come just by Kaltag's tone. But yet he hoped it wouldn't be that bad.

"Balto, kodi's dead."

"What!" Balto stepped back as a loud cry went up behind him. He turned to see clover running back the way they came with Jenna quickly in tow. Balto hadn't expected it to hurt him so much. He stepped back in shock at the words and there meaning. "How? How?"

"Balto, last night one of the dogs on Kodi's team came back. He was ripped up pretty bad, his skin was ripped off his back, and, and it was just horrible."

"Where is he?"

"Balto," Kaltag began. "He's dead. He died shortly after arriving but not before telling me his story."

Balto's ears perked up "story? What kind of story? How did he know kodi was dead? Tell me." Balto growled.

"Well, he said after the attack…"

"Attack?" Balto's voice jumped.

"Yes attack, he said that he walked nearly three miles. Then he got caught by the wolves. They told him that any dog pulling for a human will die with their human. They said they are sick and tired of competing for food, and will fight to the death."

Balto realized that a war had been started. He knew that they were going to half to fight in order to live with freedom. But that was not his main concern right now kodi was.

"But how did he know kodi was dead?"

Kaltag turned away again, to get the courage up to tell Balto how he knew. "Balto he said he found his frozen foot."

"What!" Balto nearly fainted. The shock had been more then he thought, he tried to get his stamina back but that was already a lost battle. "He found just his foot?"

"Balto, I don't know."

Balto stepped back, his eyes were watering up, and sobbing began to come up to the surface. But then something changed. Balto's legs no longer shook, and his eyes no longer watered. He now stood strong with his chest puffed out, and legs strongly seated below him. He was no longer in a state of remorse, but instead he was in a state of action. "Kaltag I'm coming with you."

"What? No you can't come."

"You're telling me that I can't come? Who give you the right?" Balto growled getting up into Kaltags face.

"No, its not that I won't let you go, its that Sam's mushing. You know about him and you."

Balto looked back at the mushers. Sam stood in between the other two mushers, carefully eyeing Balto. Sam and Balto had gone back a long time. Sam had a hatred for wolves that was unmatched by any in town, and Balto, well he looked like a wolf. It just wasn't a match that worked.

"Your right," Balto agreed still staring at Sam. "But I am going to fallow you. I'll be off in the trees to your right and behind. "

"No Balto you can't."

But it was too late, Balto was already running off to find Jenna and tell her what he was going to do. Balto walked back around the fading yellow building that they had previously come around. Balto peaked around the corner. Jenna stood in the shadows with her back up against the building. Clover sobbed, and wept into Jenna's chest. Jenna had tears running down her fur, but kept her sobs to a minimum.

"I don't want to know." she said looking straight ahead. Balto moved to "I don't want to know how or why."

Balto walked around the front of her, and with the calmest tone he could conger up.

"Jenna I'm going to bring our son home."


	5. The mind of a killer

**Chapter 5 **

Agrona sat on a hill looking down at the valley floor before him. Across the river there was a gravel bar, that had washed up their over the years, where their stood a large stand of spruce trees. From where Agrona sat the hill dropped steeply for nearly two hundred vertical feet, the last fifty feet to the river being an undercut to make a large dirt cliff. Behind the wolf stood a stand of spruce in the mouth of a hanging valley, a valley carved out from a glacier hundreds of years ago. But none of this was visible, due to the storm.

This small valley, which wasn't small at all, was nearly ten miles long and a half mile wide. It had all the features of the large valley below, it had a small river running through it which curved and twisted from the large glacier up above. This valley was the wolves' secret hiding place. It provided them with shelter, water, but had hardly any food.

There main food supply was caribou. No caribou resided in this valley, so they had to go up the valley, over a trail carved into the glacier, a trail that had been used by their ancestors for hundreds of years. But for the past several years hunters from the mining camps across the ridge have been taking more then there fair share. Every wolf in Agrona's clan had grown skinny from hunger

Agrona knew why the food was scarce. It wasn't the humans over hunting. Agrona knew that the caribou moved in a ten year cycle, his father had taught this to him in his early days. Agrona's father had told him "when you lead this pack, you will lead them through trying times, but you must remain strong, because meat will return."

The words had stuck with Agrona. His father was old, and therefore had much knowledge. Before his father had died Agrona's father left the pack in his care, like he had planed. Agrona tried to lead to the best of his abilities, but feared that he wasn't.

He feared that he was being to mean. He feared that the wolves would leave him if he were to easy going. But he also feared that they would leave if he were to mean, like when he ripped the eye out of the young wolf. But he felt that it was necessary, he had spoke out of command, and out of turn to him, it was necessary he finally figured.

So he sat on the hill, looking out over the valley below him, the wind blowing across the hill to his left. It ripped the cold into him, but none of it seemed to bother him. His ears were unbearably cold because of the many fight scars. He hadn't received any of these in actual battle, they had been received when he was a puppy, and one of his older brothers decided to teach him a lesson.

He thought about the battle he was pursuing. It hadn't been his idea to make this war. It was the idea of his pack. He tried to explain to them that the meat would return, but they wouldn't listen. They all had there mind on the idea that the humans had done this. It was the humans who had taken their food from them. So Agrona went with it.

"Agrona?" came a small and insignificant voice from behind him. Agrona turned his head slowly to the wolf. It was the young wolf whose eye he had ripped out. A long scratch went from the top of his head down over where his eye had been and an inch down under his eye socket. The place where the eye had been was now a bloody and pussy infected spot. A long black, almost snot looking thing, hung down under his eye. It was what was left of his eye.

"What do you want? Cant you see what I'm thinking?" Agrona said turning back to look out over his valley.

"Well, sir, I was just thinking that if one dog survived, then couldn't others?"

Agrona thought deep for several seconds thinking about what the young wolf had said. "You and the older one will go back to the sled, and you will rip the throat on all those dogs. Do you hear?"

"Yes" the young wolf turned and looked at the older one sitting back behind him. The older one hadn't herd what Agrona said, but understood when the young wolf shook his head with agreement. They both turned, and ran down along the tree line to find the sled.

Agrona returned to his thought. There was much thought about the war to come.


	6. Kodi

**Chapter 6 **

The sun shine gleamed overhead warming the soft sand of the beach. Waves lapped on the shore, and a warm breeze came from the south. Water, from melting snow that was hidden where the sun couldn't get it, melted and trickled down through the small streams and ditches. But still, a lot of the water simply flowed along under the bright green grass, little rivers that couldn't be seen from above.

Kodi opened his eyes and could hear the sound of seagulls cawing and squawking. He looked straight up at the sky and watched as two large seagulls flew over. They were lined under a large blue sky, with white fluffy clouds that resembled cotton balls floating.

Kodi rolled his head to the side, and could see water trickling down off a grassy embankment onto the soft sand of the beach. Wait, this was a beach. He remembered back to his last thoughts, and could clearly see the hate filled eyes of the wolf, the blood. He moved a paw up to his neck where the gash would be, and found nothing. He had to be dead, and this was heaven.

He stood up letting the warm sand cake off his back, and looked around. Kodi looked out across the grass towards Nome. It stood nearly a mile down the beach from himself; he could see the steeple of the church, and the boiler room where all the dogs would hang around. He could see several seagulls standing in the grass watching him. They were resting from there long flight out to sea to find shellfish.

For a brief moment he thought that maybe it had all been a dream. That maybe this was the real world and that everything before had been nothing but a dream. But if he was dead, he never expected heaven to be, well, this. He had to know for sure.

Kodi turned and began to run down the beach. He had to know if all his friends and family were still there. He had to know if it was just a dream. He ran as fast as he could, and found that running seemed much easier to him. There seemed to be no restrictions to his running. There was no wind to restrict his running. He pushed himself harder, and felt as thought he were running on a cloud. There was no pain, and he felt great, but he was also afraid. He was afraid that this only proved that he was dead.

Kodi was thinking too much about his death, and how horribly it had ended. That he didn't notice the figure moving up on his right. It was a red and white blur, almost a cloud with feet. Kodi didn't notice the figure until it bumped up against his shoulder. Out of shock he bolted away out into the ocean. He didn't even slow when it happened, but once he knew what it was he moved slowly back next to it. Once he got close, he realized who it was. It was clover.

She slowed up, and rubbed against his shoulder. Her eyes held more love then he could ever hope to have, and a friendly smile crossed her face. Feeling like being a little bit silly, he jumped up into the air and rapped his paws around her neck. He then fell down on his shoulder, being sure that she would land on top of him. She landed on his belly, and they slid to a stop. She rolled over until they were chest to chest, kodi on the bottom.

She held her head high, smiling at him. Kodi stared into her eyes and felt as if he could melt. Then her eyes changed, the love went away from her eyes, as did the smile. Instead her eyes were filled with fear. She cried and sobbed, screaming his name.

"Kodi!"

Kodi jolted awake. He looked around but could only see the darkness. He could hear the wind blowing through the trees, and could feel the snow blowing across the ground.

Kodi felt so tired. He wanted so much to just lie back down and go to sleep. He had never felt a level of this tired before. Kodi closed his eyes and laid his head down. His joints ached and his muscles were sore. But he found that when he closed his eyes, he no longer hurt. The pain seemed to just go away. He knew death was close, and that if he fell asleep again he would die. He knew that if he kept his eyes closed to long it would happen. He couldn't end it like this, he had to get up and fight.

Kodi tried to move his front legs, but found them sore and stiff. They would half to be warmed. He moved them slowly until they were under his body. He warmed them the best he could with what little body heat was left, and after several minutes of fighting sleep he was ready to make a try.

He put them up under himself in a way that he would be able to stand. He pushed as hard as he could and managed to get his body up off the ground. But the pain in his joints was too much, so he lay back down in the snow, discouraged by his failure.

He felt extremely tired again; his attempt must have exhausted him. But once again he had to stand, there was no other alternative. He put his legs back up to his sides, and pushed as hard as he could. This time he managed to get to a full standing position, but did so with tears freezing in his eyes. It had felt as if someone had stabbed him in the legs. But after several tense seconds he was fine.

The harness was still wrapped around his midsection. It had somehow ripped off of his shoulders, and froze up around his waste. It wouldn't be hard to escape this; it was loose enough that he could simply walk out of it. He moved his right front foot forward, and then he moved his rear left foot. He then moved his left front foot, then his back left, when he realized it. His foot was frozen.

He looked at it and wanted to cry, even if he could make it back to Nome he would be put down in an instant. There was no cure for a frozen foot. Even if the humans didn't put him down, he would never be able to pull a sled again. But this was his life, if he couldn't run; he might as well be dead.

He looked once more at the frozen limb under his body. He moved to go and lick it, when he felt a sharp painful stiffness in his neck. The wound in his neck, he had forgotten about it. He should have been dead anyway, he had lost so much blood, but how could it be that he was still alive. It must have frozen solid, it being so cold it would of happened within seconds. He knew the wound was there, but didn't move to feel it, less he fall down and hurt himself more.

But the leg, he had to pay more attention to it. It was a life threatening wound. The wound on his neck would heal, but the leg may never heal. He moved his head slowly back, forcing himself through the pain, and licked the leg. His leg was frozen up to about four inches below his thigh. Even though he had expected the wound to be much worse, he still felt as though his world was over.

He lay over on the frozen leg. There was no use in fighting to get back when he would simply be killed on. What use was it? He laid his head back in the snow to simply die. He felt real comfortable in the fact that death was coming to get him.

As he began to drift back into that sleep, the sleep where he would permanently reside. He began to have a vision; it started with a white and red cloud. Then it formed into a face, it was clovers. She was weeping, she was weeping like she was in his dream. Then kodi realized what he had to do. Even if he would be put down the second he got back, He had to see her face one more time; he had to tell her that he loved her, just one more time.

His eyes snapped open again, and he looked out at the river. It was no longer and option if he went or not. It was a command to try. He rolled back up on his belly, and got his legs ready to stand. He pushed hard, and with a grunt, was standing. He stepped forward, each step being excruciatingly painful, but yet felt good. Because each step he took, was one step closer to her.


	7. To find Kodi

**Chapter 7 **

Balto sat up in the trees just outside of Nome. Balto looked up at the steeple of the church. It was the only part of town he could see the rest was hidden behind trees. Balto looked down through the trees at the trail. It was nearly one hundred feet to the trail. The trail turned away from the bank, and dropped down onto the river ice.

It was late in the night, but Balto's eyes worked perfectly in the dark. The temperature was between thirty five and forty below. Balto's feet and nose were cold, and it bugged him. Balto could tell this by collecting slobber on his tongue, then letting it drop to the snow. If it froze before it hit the ground, it was less then forty below. If it didn't it was warmer then thirty five below. Balto's slobber only half froze.

Any moment the team was going to be coming up the trail, and down onto the ice. Balto knew they were coming because he had heard the musher, Sam, give the command to go moments earlier.

Balto kept his eyes fixated on the part of the trail where the team would come from. Then he heard it. He could hear the team's feet padding against the snow, the sled running making a constant groan as they slid across the snow. Balto could see the light from the directional lantern first; the directional lantern being a lantern with a piece of shiny mental in the back to direct the light.

Kaltag came into view, his eyes already fixated up into the woods. As soon as Kaltag could see Balto their eyes locked. Their eyes were kept locked, even as Kaltag dropped down onto the river ice. Just before Kaltag went out of view, he broke the stare and ran off, the lantern light shining over the dogs and off into the night.

Balto stood, and turned around to begin his quest. Balto's large feet made it easy for him to run on the soft powdery snow. He ran along side the team for nearly an hour.

At the end of the hour the team was running great, and Balto had learned to cope with it. Balto would run a quarter to half mile ahead of the team. Then he would lay himself down in a thicket or log jam and analyze the air and wind.

He would smell the air coming down the valley, searching for the smallest trace of wolf. Balto would scan the hills searching for the smallest sign of wolves sitting up under a tree, or cave. The tops of the mountains were hidden behind large dark grey storm clouds. A light snow fell, and blew across the ground distorting his vision. This worried Balto, he felt that if he made a wrong decision the team would be exposed and killed.

The team would then come around the bend in the river below him. Their heads bound in the lantern light, their tongues hanging out their mouth, their breathes being audible for several hundred feet. Then the team would pass and Balto would duck down, just in case, and wait for them to vanish around the next bend in the river. Then Balto would repeat the process.

But after eight hours of running, Balto became tired. It was late in the night and his feet hurt, he was hungry, and he was cold. But that wouldn't stop him. He had to find Kodi, No matter what.

Balto pushed on, but a horrible thought kept creeping in his mind. He kept imagining kodi. He kept imagining the frozen foot sticking up out of the snow, and blood surrounding his body. He kept thinking of what he would do when he found the body. Would he cry? Would he break down? Or would he hunt the creature down? Balto kept imagining himself running after the cowing wolf, then knocking him to the ground and ripping his throat out. Every time he thought about it, a shiver would go down his spine. It felt so good.

Balto had fallen behind the team, but he kept up at a good trot in there tracks. He figured that he was about a quarter mile behind the team. Balto kept putting his nose to the snow to sniff, and see how fresh the dogs scent was. He was in the middle of one of his visions of himself killing the wolf when it happened. A low howl came across the land. Balto triangulated the sound off the cliffs and figured out that the howl was at least a half mile ahead. Balto picked up his trout. Another slaughter was beginning.


	8. Great loss

**Chapter 8 **

Balto raced along the stream as fast as he could, snow sprayed from his feet and around every corner he would slip and slide. All of the pain that he had been feeling earlier had vanished. There was no longer the hunger eating at his belly, or the pain from the long journey, the adrenaline racing through his heart had pumped this all away. But even with the adrenaline running through his veins he could still feel the cold air. The cold air cut deep into his lungs, and a light coppery taste covered his tongue.

Balto raced along in the teams tracks, snow had blown into them covering up the finer details.

Balto then heard several gunshots ring out through the silence of the night. They were from Sam's rifle, and were well spaced, which meant that he had plenty of time to reload the leaver action rifle. Balto felt better knowing that the team wasn't under attack just yet.

As Balto drew closer to the gunshots the trees on his left began to thin out until only the tall thin willows along the stream were the only trees there. On Balto's right the trees also thinned out all the way up the side of the mountain. Balto could tell that this was the perfect place for an ambush. The mountains were tall and squeezed between two cliffs, which made a perfect bottle neck. Balto could see a battle field of dead trees off to his right through the willow trees. It would be perfect for the wolves to hide in wait, while the team made there way through.

Balto rounded a corner in the river and could see the scene unfolding before his eyes. The team had been mushed up onto the bank that was only a foot or two high. The sled had been pushed over and some of the gear had fallen out. Sam, the musher, knelt down behind the sled, resting his rifle on the running boards for added accuracy. He busted a shot out over his dogs, through the field of dead trees, and into the groups of wolves.

Balto took all of this in, in an instant. He dealt out, in his head, every possible outcome of the scene he saw, and knew that every outcome in the present instant all ended badly. He knew that they had to get out of there traces if they didn't want to be slaughtered.

Balto half lunged forward, then stopped himself. What was he going to do, run up there and start chewing there traces off. Sam hated Balto so much that he would just shoot him in the head, and would have no problem at such a close range. But Balto had to do something; he couldn't just stand by and watch. Then something deep down inside of Balto clicked, and he knew what he had to do if Sam was ever going to save those dogs.

Balto dug his feet down in the snow and pushed the snow high up into the air as he ran. Balto surged up past Sam, brushing against his side as he past. Sam, in such a state of shock, let go of the lever on the lever action and swung high right arm at Balto but missed. Balto raced past the team in a flash and dove over a large log on his way out to meet the wolves. The dogs shouted out encouragements as he ran past, but Balto could hardly hear them.

Balto bound under and over the logs. As he grew closer he could see the anger in the packs eyes, it was a hatred of hunger, hunger hatred, which was the worst of them all. But Balto couldn't see the stupidity of his actions; he knew he would when the battle was over, but not now.

Balto dove over a log, and then ran under another that was above him. Then Balto jumped over another log and came out into a small area where there were no dead trees. The wolves also came into the small clearing and charged at Balto.

Balto slid to a stop, his teeth bared, his fur bristled, his body held low to the ground ready to fight.

The wolves slowed and eventually stopped. They made a half circle around Balto and stared at the wolf who dared defy them. For a moment they wondered why a creature of there own would do such a thing, it was there fight and this one lone wolf would stand up to the entire pack. For a moment the wolves stared at him with almost a kind of respect. Then one of the wolves began to notice things about this wolf. He noticed the full thick ears, which were nothing like the wolves floppy ears. Then he noticed the shorter muzzle that dogs would always have.

"That wolfs a half breed." came a shout from a wolf.

Balto's cover was caught. The wolves charged in, teeth bared and hatred open. They piled atop Balto in seconds, completely covering him so none of him was visible. But Balto had gotten lucky, the wolves in the there fight to get at Balto had covered him up before they could get there teeth at him. Balto lay crushed under there bodies, feeling them move about, and the few teeth that were getting him had nothing more then fur in there mouth. But Balto knew that they would soon figure out there errors and then he would be ripped apart.

Sam had seen how Balto had charged forward, and had temporarily stopped the wolves, now he knew that if he let the other dogs loose they could chase the wolves off. Sam set the rifle on the sled and grabbed his parka. He ripped the fur parka open and grabbed a knife set sideways across his belt. He pulled it out and stepped forward onto the gangling, pulling the wheel dogs in slightly. He then reached down with his knife and cut the pull and tug lines of the dogs, and continued this up to the front of the team.

The dogs, once free, charged ahead through the thrashed trees and towards the pile of snarling, growling wolves. The first of the free dogs ran up to the wolves, and then jumped high into the air, almost floating over them, crashed into the pile and began to fight.

The dogs charged up one after another, each piling in to get a chance at the action. They bit and fought at any bit of fur that came within there reach, not caring if it was one of there own.

At first the wolves seemed to have trouble fighting, even though they outnumbered the dog, but within the time of a few seconds the tides had turned. Blood from dogs and wolves covered the ground and the animals still standing. Throats were slashed and ripped out completely. Dogs and wolves lay dead and scattered about the ground, fights thrashing on above the dead and dying. Violent fighting on such a scale that none of the dogs or wolves could tell who the other was, but could only tell who the enemy was.

Sam finished cutting the tug line from Kaltag, and put his knife back into the sheath. He then ran back to the sled, grabbed his rifle, and took off after the dogs. He jumped over the trees along the ground, and ducked under the ones that hung above him. He then slid to a stop just behind a large log, and not more then twenty feet from the mass of fighting wolves and dogs. He moved the action on the lever action, and leveled the rifle up to the fight.

Sam looked down the sights and began lining up the figures. Then he saw him, Balto. Balto was squaring off with a wolf just this side of the fight. Same lined his sights up with him. The sights moved along his left shoulder, the back of his head, and then his right shoulder as Balto turned with a wolf. Balto stopped for a moment, and that's when Sam began to squeeze the trigger. He pulled slowly on it, making sure that his aim was correct. When suddenly a blood soaked wolf charged up leaping over the barrel of the rifle and slamming his paws into Sam's face.

The wolf rolled over the back of him, and as he did Sam rolled up to a sitting position and emptied the round into the wolf's side. The wolf fell instantly, dead. Sam began to lever the action of his rifle when another wolf jumped behind him and grabbed him by the back of the neck. The wolf's teeth sunk down into the parka and just barely began to touch the flesh. Another wolf charged up and bit down on Sam's right arm, making him loose grip of the rifle and let out a scream.

Balto heard the scream and turned his head to see what it was. As he did the wolf he was facing off with took the chance and stuck, leaving a gash along the left side of Balto's face. Balto turned back, then ducking down low, came up under the wolf grabbing him by the throat. Balto rolled him over, and at the same time snapped his neck. Balto glanced at the dead wolf lying on the ground, but then heard another scream, he had to help Sam.

Balto ran back to Sam and found a wolf on his back, another at his side ripping at his gloved had and his rifle at his side. Balto leapt up over the log and head butted the wolf in the side, knocking him clear. The wolf that had been at Sam's side dove up towards Balto. With one quick motion Balto slashed the wolf's shoulder and threw him clear. The two wolves looked back at Balto, standing on Sam's back growling at them, and turned to run away.

Sam grabbed his rifle and turned over. He looked back to see what dog had saved him, and was surprised to see that it was Balto. Balto looked Sam in the eyes then returned to the fight.

Balto had no time to see if he was ok, he had to return to the fight. Balto jumped over the log and began to sprint towards the fight when the gunshot rang out. Balto slid to a stop and looked back.

Sam was standing up leveling the rifle with his left hand and moving the action with his right. Balto watched as he shot again, the bullet going over Balto and into a wolf standing at the side of the fight. Balto watched as Sam reputedly shot the rifle, and watched repeatedly as wolves fell dead. Within moments the wolves could see that there attack had failed and began to flee, until just the dogs stood around.

Only three dogs stood after the fight. They were exhausted, covered with blood some being there own, some of it not. There were cuts all along there faces and there chests. Nikke was a little bit dizzy and it was all he could do to keep from falling over from exhaustion. A small dog that Balto hadn't previously seen lay in the snow, just barely able to keep his head up. They breathed deep and hard, Kaltag breathing so deep and hard that blood slowly oozed from his mouth. It oozed out and froze into little teardrops before hitting the ground.

It was a victory, but they were all to exhausted to celebrate. All they could do was watch as the wolves crawled off to lick there wounds.

Balto then looked at the animals lying dead on the ground. They lay in a pile, the snow around them painted red with blood. Balto counted out how many wolves had fallen and came to a top number of fourteen. Five dogs also lay scattered through the pile of dead wolves.

Balto began to feel a twinge of guilt. He had killed several of those wolves, and now felt somewhat sacrilegious. He had killed some of his own species, his own brethren. He was covered with there blood, but it was all for his son. Balto then remembered his quest in the first place. He was here to find Kodi, and wouldn't leave without him. Balto turned to Kaltag, "I half to find Kodi."

Kaltag shook his head in agreement, being too tired to respond with words.

Balto looked at nikke and the other small dog who were both sitting down in the snow. These three weren't going to be able to pull the sled without Balto's help. But he had to go and find Kodi; he had come so far and couldn't give up now. If he waited any longer Kodi could be dead, if he wasn't already dead. But Balto couldn't risk the lives of the team, even if it meant his son would die, he would stay.

Kodi had heard gunshots from down river. He had been walking close to shore for the last few hours, and had thought many times that he could hear dogs, or wolves running down the river. He had figured that his mind was messing with him and that it was nothing, but gunshots he hadn't heard before. Kodi picked up the pace, but it provided little additional speed.

Kodi came around a bend in the river and suddenly was standing at the edge of a field. He looked ahead and could see the turned over sled with some gear falling out of it. He could also see a wolf, covered with blood walking towards the empty sled through the field of dead trees. Kodi ducked down, and at first wanted to cry, the rescue team that had been sent out had been killed by wolves.

As the wolf reached the nose of the turned over sled, he turned and looked upstream. Kodi didn't have any cover to hide under, beside that he had been in the middle of the river, he had made the rule to keep close to bank and he had already broken the rule. For a moment the wolf just stared at him from the front of the sled. Any moment Kodi thought the wolf would give out a hunting howl and he would be ripped to shreds, but the wolf didn't move.

Balto walked back to the sled to wait for Sam, who was sitting with his dogs up in the field. Balto stopped and looked upstream; he could see a red spot lying down in the middle of the river. Balto stared at the spot for a moment, his vision slightly blurred from the lack of blood. He stared harder while blinking rapidly, hoping that it would clear up his vision, but still Balto couldn't see it well enough.

Balto began to walk towards it, curious as to what it could be. Then Balto saw it stand up, it was Kodi.

Kodi lay on his stomach watching the wolf stand and look at him. The wolf stood for several seconds just watching. Kodi knew he didn't want to die on his knees, the wolf would realize who he was any second, and come running down to rip him apart. Kodi rose to his feet, prepared to fight to the death.

The wolf charged down off of the river bank and up the river. Kodi began to growl and bare his teeth, but as the wolf got closer Kodi began to realize who it was, it was his dad. Kodi closed his mouth, and stopped growling.

"Kodi?" Balto called out. "Is that you?"

Kodi sat down, relived that he wasn't going to be ripped to shreds. "Yeah dad it's me."

Balto charged even faster and just as he was reaching Kodi he brought his front feet of the ground as though he were going to tackle Kodi. But Balto dropped down short, realizing that his son was hurt.

"Are you ok?" Balto asked between his breaths.

Kodi simply breathed, and shivered. "I'm pretty messed up dad." even his breath was cold.

Balto looked at Kodi and began picking out the cuts and scraps about his body. There were cuts all over his chest, and one large blood clot filled wound on his neck. There were icicles of blood hanging off his underbelly and chest. It froze to a solid shield on his chest with tufts of fur coming out of it.

"What do you mean Kodi? You look fine to me." Balto said with a smile.

"no…dad." Kodi's teeth had started to chatter and prevented him from talking very well. "It's…my, leg"

Balto looked at his front legs, then around Kodi's left side. "What do you mean you look fine?"

"No…my, right…leg."

Balto turned around to Kodi's right. He glanced down at the leg that stood just like all the others in the snow. But then Kodi moved the leg. Balto's eyes opened with shock at the wooden stiffness of his leg. Balto came back to look his son in the eyes. Kodi shook his head in agreement; they both knew what it meant.

"Kodi?"

"I…know, dad…I, just came…for her." Kodi said bluntly.

Balto didn't know what to do; he couldn't deny his son's last wish. But maybe he could give Kodi some hope. "Can I take a look at that Kodi?"

Kodi shook his head, "yeah."

Balto moved around the left side of Kodi and got his head right down next to Kodi's leg. Balto looked at the leg and knew there was nothing he could go but give Kodi some hope. Balto looked close at the leg and began to realize that the leg wasn't as bad as he had first thought it was. Kodi's leg was only frozen from his toes up to just above his ankle. Balto pushed his nose against the upper part of his leg and waited for a response. Kodi didn't seem to notice which meant that the leg was just numb.

"Oh Kodi." Balto began. "Quit milking it, it isn't that bad."

"B, but…it was, frozen…from, my hip…down." Kodi said with chattering teeth, but Balto could also hear the shock in his voice.

"Well," Balto began. "All you're walking must have warmed it up because it's only frozen from your ankle down. I think you'll be just fine."

Kodi gave an agreeing node. "I…need, to…lie down."

"Don't worry Kodi; I'll help you to the sled."

Balto shoved his side up next to Kodi until most of his body was against Kodi's. Balto then brought his head up over Kodi's and grabbed him by the back of the neck like a puppy. Then, Balto using his body as a crutch and pulling Kodi along began to walk with him. It took them ten minutes of this steady walking to reach the sled.

Nikke, Kaltag and the young dog stood at the front of the sled watching Balto help Kodi along. Sam also stood at the front of the sled watching, a bloody hatchet in his right hand, from making sure the wolves were dead.

Balto brought Kodi up the small hill to the sled and slowly let him down to the ground. Balto then looked up and was staring right down the barrel of Sam's rifle, smoke and steam still rising from the gun. A wild look in Sam's eye.

Balto gasped back, lowered his ears and brought his belly to the ground. Sam shoved the barrel into the top of Balto's head. The dogs stared and stepped back. They knew the law that you don't go against your master. Kodi moved himself up next to Balto's side and waited for the blast, if he was going to take Balto he would take him too. But Sam didn't pull the trigger.

"Balto, you saved my life," Sam paused. "So I'll save yours." He pulled the gun away from Balto's head and put it in the sled. Balto let out a sigh of relief, then slowly brought himself to his feet.

Sam rummaged through the sled, trying to find a wool blanket he had placed at the bottom. After throwing several supplies aside he found the blanket. It was green and ratty, but it was warm. Sam bent down with the unfurled blanket and laid it over Kodi. He then rolled Kodi over until Kodi was lying on the blanket, and his head was the only part that stuck out.

Sam found the dogs shoulder and hip; he shoved his hands up under the blanket and hefted the dog to his chest. He turned around and set the dog down in the front of the sled, just in front of the medical supplies. He made sure Kodi was just fine and comfortable before he got to work.

Sam stepped to the front of the sled; it was time to make repairs. He grabbed the small dog and moved him where he wanted him. Sam took the severed pull line and tried to tie it to the other severed end, but there wasn't enough line to tie him to the gang line. Sam stood up and scratched his head trying to figure out a solution, and then he got it.

Sam turned around and began rummaging under Kodi. He soon emerged with a roll of cord. Sam pulled out several feet of cord, then bent over and tied it to the dog. He then gently pushed the dog with his foot until he was at a length he liked. Sam then pulled his knife from his belt and cut the line, and secured it to the large metal ring at the front of the sled. Sam continued doing this to all the dogs, and then looked at Balto.

Sam still didn't fully trust Balto so he held his hand out, palm down, and waited for Balto to make a move. Balto knew that Sam was afraid of him so he gently touched his nose up to him. Sam was now satisfied with Balto and turned to find Balto a harness.

Sam turned and headed out into the field where all the dogs lay dead. He returned several minutes later with a frozen, bloody harness. He then bent down, extending his hands out to the full reach, still not trusting Balto, and put the harness over his head and shoulders. Sam then tied a long rope to Balto's harness and the other end to the sled.

Sam then turned and looked back at the field where the dogs had died. Balto glanced up and could see tears welling up in his eyes. Sam had lost a lot of friends in those few minutes. Balto looked away as Sam moved to the back of the sled.

Sam jumped up onto the runners "hike." he yelled. The team then struggled to turn the sled. Then moved it down onto the river ice, and moved off through the wilderness.


	9. A battle not yet lost

**Chapter 9 **

Agrona sat atop the hill, there was snow blowing all around him and the intangible cold bighting at him through his fur. He was cold and shivered slightly from the wind which curled the snow off the hill into great large plums of it flowing out over the valley and vanishing with the snow falling all around. But Agrona was hardly concerned with the weather; he was more concerned with the battle going on down river.

Agrona had already assumed that the humans would have sent out a search and rescue party for there missing human. He knew that no matter how much the dogs would have refused, if any at all, they still would have been pushed into it no matter what. So Agrona sent out twenty four wolves to greet the search party when they arrived.

They hadn't been gone more then twenty minutes when he heard the call then the first gunshots rang out. Agrona listened painfully as gunshot after gunshot rang out. Then the shots quieted down for a while and Agrona thought that maybe the humans had been killed. Agrona had thought by the gunshots that there must be two or three mushers shooting. He thought of the humans rifles he had seen before, and could only think of the bolt action rifles, where a bullet had to be put in for every shot. But then after a minute the shots began again, with much more force and speed. Agrona flinched and bit his lower lip with each shot. Then as suddenly as the shots had started, they stopped.

Agrona looked down at the river, at the place in the river where it curved around and vanished into the trees. Right next to the river ran there main trail that they used to go in or out of there valley. It ran out from the trees then turned left up a small creek, which provided cover from animals or wind. Agrona stared at the point, his focus becoming incredibly small on that one spot. Any minute now they would send a runner with the news of victory, with the news of how many losses. Agrona stared, his eyes bulging nearly out of his head. Then a wolf came.

Agrona was nearly taken aback. The wolf came out of the trees with snow flying up behind him. He ran along next to the river, ignoring the trail, and began to ascend the steep snow covered hill. Agrona smiled for a second, the wolf was so happy for his victory that he would run straight up the hill to tell him, Agrona smiled more. Then four more wolves came running out of the trees and fallowed in the firsts tracks. They were quickly fallowed by four more racing with great haste. Agrona watched the trees, waiting for more to come running. One more came out from the trees, he wasn't running but hobbling along, his front left foot was blown nearly clean off. A thin piece of skin held the leg, still dragging under his body, as he hobbled along. Agrona knew that he would die within hours.

But Agrona had to know what happened? He had to know how many were there. How many could still be alive? And how many dogs did they kill? Was there still a chance that the human was sitting out there in the snow, and that they could run him down and finish the job?

Agrona bounded off his perch and ran down the hill, his feet crunching under the snow and making small avalanches as he went. The snow whipped and curled out over his head as he ran. He finally slid to a stop just above the wolves.

"What happened?" Agrona said in shock. He hadn't noticed the frozen blood covering there fur, there cuts and scrapes, the bewildered look in there eyes. Agrona brought himself together then spoke on. "How many men were in the search party?"

The wolves remained silent, there fears of being killed or maimed further by Agrona racing through there minds. They didn't want to fail in the quest that they had begged Agrona to start, but it had happened.

Agrona gave a sigh, which soon grew into a growl. He growled at the thought of there stupidity, just running down the hill hoping that the humans wouldn't put up a fight. "Let me guess…" he began in a mocking fashion. "You charged in hoping the humans wouldn't shoot you, then you were shot up and beat up by twenty dogs. Huh?" Agrona waited for an answer but still none came. Agrona was just about to turn and leave them their on that hill when a small meek wolf in the back spoke up.

"one." he said without fear. "It was one musher."

Agrona stared at the young wolf; his jaw about to drop and rip the young wolfs head off. "You mean to tell me that one musher did this, killed fourteen wolves."

"yes." yet another unafraid and blunt answer that almost left Agrona's mouth ajar.

"How many dogs were there? How many did you kill?" Agrona asked waiting, and hoping, for him to tell something like forty dogs with one musher, but knew it was a pipe dream.

"There were eight dogs we killed five." Agrona's mouth now hung ajar.

Fourteen wolves had died at the hands of one musher eight dogs. But what was worse is that twenty four, well built and strong wolves, died at the hands, and teeth, of nine.

Agrona stared at them, letting his anger bubble up, "you all deserve to die, you can't even carry out a simple task of killing one dog sled team. How do you expect me to lead you when you can't fallow a simple order through?" Agrona turned to begin the walk up the hill, his mind spewing over with hate and disgust.

"But it wasn't our fault," the young wolf in the back protested. "There was a half wolf that had distracted us."

Agrona stopped walked and turned, letting some snow fall down in a small avalanche, he stared at the young wolf, why would a half breed be out here fighting for the dogs and humans. Half wolves were hated by both, they were hated by dogs and by wolves, so what would he be doing out here, unless he was accepted by the dogs and humans. But still he must have been out here for something, or someone.

"I don't know who he was, but after we started our run down the hill, he ran out from behind the team. He ran up and started growling. Then we noticed that he was a half wolf so we attacked him, but our attack didn't even seem to harm him. He got right up and began to fight us. By that time the musher had set the team loose, who started to fight us. We tried to stop him before he could start shooting but the half wolf stopped us and it was just a massacre." The young wolf stated, now for the first time looking Agrona in the eyes.

Agrona caught out of the corner of his eye two figures moving up the creek bed to his right. Agrona turned to look at them and instantly knew who they were, they were the young one eye, and the elder coming back from there search of the first battle zone. The way they ran Agrona knew that it wasn't good news they were brining, they ran very fast and careless tripping every third or fourth step in an effort to get to Agrona as fast as they could.

Once they were within hearing range the young one, who was running in front yelled out. "Another dog from the first battle has escaped. We fallowed his tracks and came to the field where we watched a wolf help him to the sled."

Agrona now knew that the battle wasn't going as it should; they should have killed both those teams' dead and be preparing to face more. Agrona raised his head and cleared his throat, ready to speak.

"Why did you want me to start this war? I remember, I remember some of your comments. The humans are stealing our food. The humans are wasting our food. I agreed to lead this fight, but what was the number one rule I stated." Agrona waited for an answer, but when nothing but silence took them he continued "I said that no dog, or human, shall leave this valley alive. Now look, we haven't kept to our promise. Now, it must be amended."

The wolves all gave out a cheer, then quieted down to listen to more of Agrona's words.

"We will call out the half wolf first. He dares go against his blood and spill ours. We will call him out, and spill his"

"How" came several of the wolves at once.

"By taking the one he came looking for, his son." the wolves all looked at each other wondering who the half wolfs son could be.

"How do we know who the half wolfs son his?" the young wolf yelled out over the wolves muttering.

"The red leader of the first sled, he obviously is something important to the half breed. We will take him"

The group of wolves gave out another cheer and bounded around a little bit.

"Tonight," Agrona began. "We shall rest, and tomorrow night we will take the young red one."

The wolves cheered more, snow and bloody ice crystals flying off of there bodies. Agrona smiled at them and turned to begin his accent of the hill, when the young one eye butted in. "but Agrona, are you going to send all of these wolves out into a town they don't know, where there are hundreds of dogs to each of us, and expect them to go unnoticed."

Agrona turned and looked at the young one eye with a smile. "No I don't intend to send out all of them, I intend to send out three, including you." Agrona turned to walk away again.

"but what if we cant find him, or he puts up a fight and gets away, or we cant carry him with enough speed?" one eye waited patently for an answer as Agrona lowered his head down to his chest and began to think deep.

Agrona turned with a large smile going across his face, snow falling at an angle to it. "Then bring me the blood of someone close to him."


	10. Death so close

**Chapter 10 **

The team ran as hard as they could for the last mile. They were able to tell that they were close when they could see the sunlight creeping up the valley. The sunlight would only do this at the mouth of the valley near Nome.

Balto could see the point where the trail moved up off the river and onto the bank. He steered the team up onto the bank and out into the sunlight. The sun had just risen out over the sea ice and sent hundreds of shadows, from small pressure ridges, running hundreds of yards across the ice. The roof's of town were lit up by the sun, but there back walls were not. The shadows of town reached out like the warm hand of loving mother they hadn't seen for years.

Balto began the final half mile run into town. In the shadows of the buildings he could see blurred figures standing around, they were of dogs and of men, Balto could tell this by the height of the characters.

Balto pulled the sled to the back of the building, coming to rest ten feet from the building. Balto struggled to keep from falling over from exhaustion. The three other dogs behind Balto also had the same problem, there feet shook violently under there body weight. Kaltag drooled a pure blood slurry and coughed violently every few seconds. Balto watched the blood fall from Kaltag's mouth and freeze before hitting the ground. Balto began to realize that he himself was hurt. Balto could taste the light coppery taste across his tongue, and he noticed a few spots of blood in the snow below him. Balto's vision was blurry; he couldn't make out any minute features. He wasn't able to see the perfect outlines of Kaltag's body, or the outline of the puddle of blood below him. Balto's hearing was also messed up; he could hear people and dogs talking and could hear the sound of himself panting. But all of this noise sounded like he was listening to it down a long hallway.

Balto turned back towards the building and could see Jenna up in his face trying to talk to him. Balto's vision of her was blurred, and every time she moved her image would move slowly with her. Balto could hear her talking but it was blurred out and deep.

Balto waited a moment for the blood to run from his legs back to his head, and everything soon was restored to a natural order. But Balto still bore the weakness of the trip.

"Jenna" Balto finally muttered. "I brought, our son, home." Balto said very slowly. To Balto the words still had a slight echo, as if he were in a glass jar.

"Thank you Balto." Jenna nuzzled up against Balto then repeated in a whisper.

Balto smiled and got his mouth a little bit closer to her ear. "What, did you think it was hard?"

Jenna giggled a little at Balto's brawn sense of humor even after such turmoil. "How's Kodi doing?" she said moving back to the seriousness of what was going on.

"I think he'll be just fine." But Balto didn't convey his worry about Kodi's leg. If the mushers decided not to try and save the leg, Kodi was as good as dead. But he couldn't let Jenna know this; she had just got her son back.

Balto stepped back a little, moving away from Jenna who was still around his neck, and looked back towards the sled. The mushers were standing in a small circle behind the sled talking about the attacks that had just taken place. Balto looked at the sled below them and could see Kodi's head sticking out of the sled; he was still unconscious and his head laid sideways across the blanket he was wrapped in. clover had her head lain out across the blanket just below the point where Kodi's head came out of the blanket. She was crying and tears could be seen running down her face.

Balto then looked at Kodi and held his breath. He waited for Kodi to take a breath; he just realized that he hadn't seen Kodi breathe since he first looked at him. But Balto let it out in a long quick sigh when he saw Kodi take a large breath into his lungs.

One of the mushers turned and began to walk over towards Balto. As he walked he removed his glove letting the steam, which comes from this extreme cold, float off his fingers. The musher walked to the front of Balto and bent down to give him a pat across the head. The musher smiled a little bit, checking Balto's cuts and scrapes, then took hold of the harness across Balto's back. "Well why don't we get this off of ya."

The musher bent up over Balto's back and grabbed the harness firmly in his bare hand. He gave it a hard jerk forward, as he did Balto gave out a yelp of pain, the harness was stuck, and stuck firm. The musher bent down over Balto's back, getting right up next to the harness. Under the harness the blood had melted, and when Balto had stopped creating heat with his body, the blood had fused to the harness.

The musher smiled, he seemed to know exactly what to do. He turned and began to walk towards a large shed with several large hooks with wet harnesses on the door. He stepped through the door with a long laid out creak and began to rummage. Balto listened as he heard metal bang against metal, wood against wood, and wood against metal. Within several minutes of these sounds he returned. In his hands he carried a large metal grill looking thing, and a large metal black bucket stuffed with wood. He dropped it in the snow just a few feet from the dogs and returned to the shed. He then returned with another bucket, this one stuffed with much smaller wood and a few pieces of paper.

The musher then went to work. He took the grate that lay on its side and set it upright. Under this he began to make a small tripod with small sticks. As the musher began to stack the wood higher, he began to put on more, much bigger, wood. As soon as the tripod of wood was a foot off the ground he put the paper inside of the tripod. He produced some wood matches from his pocket and lit the paper on fire. Smoke began to plume from the pile of wood, quickly fallowed by a foot high flame. The musher began to feed more wood onto the fire and within minutes had a toasty fire going.

As soon as the fire was going the musher turned and walked over to a large pile of snow that had gathered under the corner of the shed. He jammed the bucket down into the snow, scraping up a bucketful, and brought the bucket back to the fire. He then returned to the shed and came back with a large steel lid to the pot of snow.

Balto hadn't noticed, but a large crowd had begun to gather. The word quickly spread through town that the team had returned and were torn to shreds. The people stood around quietly making comments to one another about the team. And the people who didn't know what had happened asked people who might know. It hadn't been confirmed that the other team had been lost, but the dead dog and the horribly injured dog were enough to prove it to even the most skeptical. The people couldn't help but notice the dogs torn harnesses, the way they were tied to the sled, and the blood coming from some of there mouths. It was a horrible scene for all of them, but they staid, wanting to see what happened.

Balto listened to the pot of water boil over and sizzle off onto the hot coals underneath it. The musher dropped down to his knees with a few tools in his hands. He set them out in the snow where Balto got his first view of them. There were a large pair of rusty, metal scissors with the tips of the broken off. Next to the scissors was a large skinning knife that was at least six inches long. But the actual length of the knife was probably only five inches, this being so due to the customary bent tip. The knife had recently been sharpened, Balto could tell this by the shinny cutting edge of the knife.

The musher, after laying his two tools out, walked back over to the large metal pot. He reached into the pot and came forth with a pot on a long stick. It was a rolled metal handle nearly three feet long, that was spot welded onto the metal can. The mouth of the can was nearly a foot across and a foot tall, the tool was mainly used for serving out dog food.

The musher pulled this tool, full of water, from the boiling pot. The water within the pot instantly began steam from the cold air. He stepped quickly towards Balto; he knew that in this kind of cold the water would freeze within seconds, so he had to move fast. He dropped down to his knees at Balto's side and picked up the knife in his left hand. But as he looked at the task ahead of him he began to realize he needed another hand.

The musher looked at the crowd of people standing around and picked out a small boy, in a wool hat and scarf out front.

"Hey boy, can you give me a hand?" the young boy pulled his hand from his pocket and pointed at himself in wonder.

"Yeah kid you." the boy stepped forward and crunched through the snow. He stopped just on the other side of Balto and waited for his task in silence.

"Ok kid, take this pot of water." the musher lifted the pot of water over Balto, and carefully put it into the young boys hands. "Ok kid, when I tell you too, pour the water over the spot where the harness is still frozen to him. Ok?"

The young boy shook his head yes and waited for the command to start pouring.

The musher took his knife in his right hand, and the harness in his left. He pulled the harness up to the point where it started to stick to Balto's fur, and set the knife carefully where he did. "Ok kid, pour."

The kid turned the pot over and began pouring the water onto Balto's frozen harness. While the Luke warm water melted the blood, the musher cut along in a sawing motion with the harness. The work was quick and over with in seconds. When the boy had no more water in the bucket he stopped. The musher, meanwhile, kept trying to cut, but the bloody ice was too much for the blade, and out of accident cut down into Balto's side leaving a small bloody wound.

Balto yelped out in pain at the wound and moved away from where the pain came from. He looked back at his harness and could see the harness lifted up over his back. Balto looked at where the harness had been and could see a missing patch of fur, nearly twelve inches long, that ran along where the harness had been.

The musher looked at the boy and told him to go get more water. The boy jumped around the front of Balto, and ran up to the boiling pot of water. Balto looked back at Kodi and could see Sam standing over him with the other musher down at the side of the sled. Clover had been pushed out of the way, but Balto could see the look in her eyes, it was a look of fear.

The musher had taken the blanket off Kodi to get a better look at him. He shook Kodi, rather violently, trying to wake him from his deep slumber. Balto held his breath; his feet became weak and cold. Balto stared at Kodi, waiting for him to take a breath; he couldn't be dead after all Balto went through to get him. But when Kodi took in a long, laid out breath, Balto let out his in a long exasperated sigh.

"I don't know Sam, his ankles froze up pretty bad." the musher who was kneeling on the ground said, not looking up at Sam. He held Kodi's frozen foot in his hand, bending it slightly to show how frozen it was. "We could get the doctor over here to look at it, but it's going to be expensive."

Sam stared at the frozen foot, thinking of what to do. The musher on the ground looked up at him waiting for an answer. "No I can't…it's just too much money to put into a dog right now." he looked at Kodi down through his nose. "I think we'll just put him down."

Balto heard this and tried to run back to stop them from doing what they were going to do. But when Balto tried to move, the musher at his side grabbed hold of him so he couldn't run. "Stop, moving." he yelled pushing his weight down on Balto so he couldn't move, Any other day Balto would of just drug the man with him, but today he was to weak to pull any harder. He turned to Jenna who was standing just off to Balto's left, gasping at what they were about to do.

"Jenna you half to stop them."

Jenna bound forward through the snow barking at Sam. She stopped just short of the two mushers and barked as loud as she could. Clover joined in right next to Jenna and began barking at the two men.

"Would some one restrain these dogs." Sam yelled. Two young men came forward from the crowd, one grabbed Jenna's scarf, while the other grabbed clovers collar. Balto began barking at both the young men and Sam.

Sam grabbed hold of Kodi's hair along his side, and pulled him away from the sled amidst the three barking dogs. After dragging Kodi's body about eight feet away from the sled, he turned and walked back. Sam picked up the rifle, took a shell out of his pocket, and put it in the gun. He levered the action twice, so a bullet was now in the chamber. The dogs behind Balto began barking with him. Balto tried to struggle forward away from the mushers grip, as did Jenna and clover who were equally unsuccessful.

Sam stood above Kodi, rifle held across his hips in both hands, seemingly unaware of the barking. Then he slowly put the but of the rifle to his shoulder, and the barrel against the side of Kodi's head. He began to squeeze on the trigger, and as he did, he closed his eyes, waiting for the bullet to go flying through his head.

"Sam, what do you think your doing?" all the dogs grew quiet with the older lady's yell. "What do you think you're going to do with that gun?"

"Shut up Kris, this doesn't concern you." Sam said leveling the rifle with his hips again.

"Anything my little brother does concerns me." She stepped forward around the front of the team and walked up into Sams face. She stood for a moment glaring Sam into the eyes. She then turned and knelt down next to Kodi and began to rub his side. At first she didn't notice anything other then the small cuts and scraps along Kodi's chest and head. She knew some stitches were going to be needed, but didn't notice anything real bad. "You're going to kill this perfectly fine sledding dog?"

"No, he's not fine." Sam said moving around the back of his sister, bending down and grabbing Kodi's frozen foot. "This is an injury that will prevent this dog from running ever again." Sam dropped Kodi's foot and stood up, as did his sister. "I'll never be able to sell this dog. And I don't want a dog to just lie around my house, expect to get fed, and never half to work."

Sam stood up and moved around his sister, back to Kodi's head, and put the rifle to his head.

"I'll buy him from you." Kris said kicking the rifle barrel away from Kodi's head and looking her brother in the eyes waiting for an answer.

"You don't want to waste your money on this dog. Even if you did get him proper care from you husband, the doctor, he could still die. Besides this dogs and athlete, he needs to get out and get his heart pumping or else he'll go stir crazy, and die."

Kris reached into her pocket and came forth with several wadded crumpled bills. "Fifty dollars," she said holding the money out. "I'll pay you fifty dollars for him." Kris waited for her brother Sam to take the money.

Sam stared down his nose at the money. He bit down on the inside of his lips, frustrated with his sister's insistence. He reached out with a rattle snake like quickness and snatched the money from her hand with some grumbled words. He then returned to the sled and his dogs.

Kris looked down at her recent investment and got ready to begin the real work. She had to carry him to the hospital so her husband could begin to rehabilitate the dog.

She bent over and wrapped her hands around Kodi's rib cage and lifted. She managed to get Kodi about a foot off the ground before loosing her grip and dropping Kodi to the ground. Kris looked at the crowd of people and picked out a young man of maybe seventeen. "Hey you, I'll pay you five dollars if you will carry this dog to the hospital for me."

The young man ran forward and stopped next to Kris. "ok, pick him up, lets go." the young man bent over and grabbed Kodi's front foot, he then grabbed Kodi's, good, back foot and with one lunge, threw Kodi upon his shoulders. He then turned to Kris, who was walking off to the hospital, and began to fallow her.


	11. Night at the Dr's

**Chapter 11 **

Balto stood on the kitchen table of the house. He glanced around the room at the pots and pans hanging from the wall. An old cook stove sat on the side of the room away from the kitchen cupboards. There was a black cast iron pot sitting on the stove slowly letting out steam to humidify the dry air of the north. Balto glanced down at the table he was standing on. A white sheet had been laid across the table under Balto's feet. The frozen blood that stuck to his sides was melting off in the heat of the house and beginning to pool on the sheet.

After having the harness literally 'cut' off of him, Balto was taken back home by Rosy's father, But Balto struggled against him. He had wanted to go with Jenna to the hospital to see how Kodi was doing, but Rosy's father was very persistent. As Balto was nearly being drug away he told Jenna that he would get over to the hospital as soon as he could. Then Balto watched as Jenna took off around the corner of a building on her way to the hospital.

Balto was led into the house where rosy began to freak about all the blood on Balto. She began scream and crying that Balto was dying, and that they had to take him to the hospital. Rosy's mother instantly tried to calm rosy. Telling her that, "Balto's going to be just fine." it did little to calm her, and Rosy's father had to lead her into another room so she could calm down.

Rosy's mother then went to work on Balto. She stepped out of the room real fast and returned with a large white sheet. She took the eating implements off the table and set them on the counter top. She then unfurled the sheet with a quick snapping wave and set it out across the table to soak up the blood. Rosy's mother then patted the table twice real fast, while saying the words. "Hup hup." Balto bound onto the table with a single leap.

By this time rosy felt good enough to come back into the kitchen with her father. They both walked up to the side of the table and began to examine Balto.

"He's got a lot of cut." rosy said turning and looking up at her father, a hint of fear still in her voice.

"It doesn't look like very many cuts." Rosy's father said reaching his hand behind Balto's ear and giving him a quick three second scratch.

"So what are we going to do mommy? Are we going to take Balto to the hospital?" rosy said looking over Balto at her mother on the opposite side of the table.

"Oh, I don't think we'll need to take Balto to the hospital…there aren't many cuts on him…well there are some small ones, but none that require him to go to the hospital." Rosy's mother finished her search for serious injuries and conceded that there were none.

"Were going to half to clean these wounds out though." Rosy's mother said walking across the kitchen to a cupboard. She opened the upper cupboard door and grabbed several old white linens that had been turned into rags. On the very top shelf there was a brown bottle which she reached out as far as she could for and managed to grab it with a small hop. She then quietly closed the kitchen cupboard and returned to the table, items In hand.

She handed one rag to each of them, then set the pile of extras on the table next to Balto. She set the brown bottle down on the table and popped the cork off the top. "Ok hold out your rags." she said and watched as they both did as they were told. She reached the bottle out and poured a heft amount onto the rags, some of it dripping off and spilling on the floor. She then did it to her own and set the bottle down next to the pile of extra rags.

"Ok now, we half to get this disinfectant into all of his wounds so none of them become infected." She reached up with the wet rag and put it on a wound across Balto's chest.

Balto lurched backwards with pain. He had never felt something so painful in all his life. It felt as though someone had taken a red hot iron and started beating him with it. Balto called out in pain and Rosy's mother removed the rag from his chest. "I'm sorry Balto, but it has to be done." she pushed the rag back up into Balto's chest, and Balto could feel the iron burning him. Rosy's father came in from the other side and did the same thing, except on the back of Balto's rib cage. Balto tried to move away from this one, it felt worse then the one on his chest. He barked out in pain at both of these red hot iron pains, but tried not to. Rosy jumped up and jammed her rag into Balto's side right next to her father. This one hurt the worst because she had literally punched him with the rag of fire. Balto couldn't help but let out a low growl when she did it. Balto could feel them moving around from cut, to cut; making sure the fire liquid was in each wound. Within moments they had finished, walking away from the table to dispose of there rags. They never needing more than the one rag in there hand.

Balto jumped off the table, it hurt so bad still he twisted around and began to lick the wounds on his side clean of the liquid. But Balto had no time to lick his wounds clean; he had to get to the hospital to find out about Kodi.

Balto walked towards the kitchen door. He stopped at the door and began to whimper, but Rosy's parents didn't seem to notice him. Balto glanced back to see what they were doing. They were hunched over the table Balto was just on, cleaning the blood that had soaked through the sheet onto the table. Balto jumped up onto the door, scratching at the doorknob, but they didn't seem to notice him. Balto did it again and turned around to see if they got the message.

"Daddy, I think Balto wants to go out." rosy said tugging at her fathers pants and looking up at him.

Rosy's father turned to see what rosy was talking about. Balto jumped up one more time and scratched at the doorknob.

"Balto I don't think you should go outside." but Balto wouldn't listen. He jumped back up and scratched the doorknob and wouldn't stop until he was outside.

"Ok, ok Balto, I'll let you out." Rosy's father stepped forward and grabbed the doorknob. He twisted it, and opened it just enough for Balto to squeeze out. He then slammed it shut so no cold air could get inside.

Balto took off down the dark alleyway on his way to the hospital. He ran as fast as he could, snow flying out from under his feet in his flight to make it to the hospital in time; But in time for what. All Balto could think about was Kodi. He had to know if Kodi was alright, if he was awake. Or if the worst would happen, Balto gulped, if Kodi would lose his foot.

Balto rounded the corner to the small alley which was right next to the hospital. Balto half slipped around the corner, his feet stopped but his body in motion. He pushed out of his tail spin and moved up the alley to the boiler room door. The door was left slight ajar most likely from Jenna. From Inside the door came a warm and loving glow. From outside the door Balto could already feel the heat of the boiler.

Balto peaked through the door and could see jail like bars which were plastered across the ceiling. The bars moving and wiggling with the burning fire behind them. Balto peaked around the corner of the door and could see the metal, grate like door of the boiler, a fire burning behind it.

Balto stepped through the door into the nice warm room. Balto stood a little too close to the furnace and could feel the blood melting off of his left side. Balto glanced back and could see it starting to pool on the wood floor, but he couldn't sit any longer. He had to find Jenna. Balto walked back over to the small door which led down under the hospital.

Balto looked down through the opening and could see spider webs hanging down from the floor joists. There were a few areas where he could see light coming down through the metal grates that were on the floor of the hospital.

"Jenna?" Balto called out talking just a little higher than a whisper.

"Over here Balto." Balto turned his head and could see Jenna sitting back behind a post in the light of a metal grate. She was sitting down letting the light cascade down on her worried face.

Balto crouched down and made his way under the boards towards Jenna. When he got to Jenna he sat up next to her. "Is he ok?" the stress in his voice clearly evident. "What has the doctor said?" Balto said looking at Jenna.

"Well nothing much has happened." she paused to glance at Balto then back up through the grate. "Kris had just brought Kodi in. then she told the doctor what had happened and how she bought Kodi. The doctor wasn't too pleased with her purchase, but said he would look at him in a few minutes; and nothing else has happened."

Balto looked up through the grate and could see Kodi's tale hanging off a table with a white sheet under him.

Just then Balto turned his head back behind him and looked up at the floorboards, as did Jenna. The boards bent and creaked under the weight of what sounded to be two humans walking into the room.

"Now tell me, why you bought this dog?" the doctor said stepping into the room, hands out in front of him in a questioning manner.

"My brother was about to kill this fine lead dog and I believed that you could save him." Kris said walking into the room after her husband, the doctor.

"But why did you pay fifty dollars for him." the doctor walked over to the table that Kodi was on, turned and looked at his wife.

She sighed. "It was a spur of the moment purchase." she paused for a moment, waiting for her husband to say something but he didn't speak. She stepped forward over the metal grate and grabbed her husbands left arm. "So what can you do for him?"

"We'll see what I can do" the doctor reached over with his right hand and touched the side of her face.

The doctor leaned over the table Kodi was on and began to examine him. He started with Kodi's head and began to poke and prod into several of the laceration there. But none of the wounds were ripped where major veins were so he moved on down his neck. He instantly went for the large wound on his shoulder. The doctor spread the wound open to see inside. Inside the wound the blood had frozen solid clotting a major artery. "Were going to half to sew that up here pretty soon." he said moving on down Kodi's side

"His foot." Kris said pointing at the frozen foot. "His foot's frozen."

The doctor skipped over the rest of his body and went straight for the foot. He held Kodi's foot from the ankle down, squeezing lightly on it to find out just how much was frozen. He felt up and down the leg several times, each time having a more and more dissatisfied look.

"This isn't good." he said finally letting the leg go. "No good at all."

"Well can you save it?" Kris said grabbing her husband's left hand in a loving move.

Her husband sighed. "I can't guarantee I can save It." he turned his gaze away from his wife and back at Kodi.

Kris squeezed tighter. "What are the chances that he'll lose it?"

"Fifty fifty, it's the best I can give him." the entire sentence seemed to be one long sigh. His eyes were hung low, his glare directly on Kodi's foot, and his right hand on the table near Kodi's foot.

"Ok, lets get to work." the doctor said waiting for his wife to let go of his arm. "First, I'm going to stitch this up. I want you to go get three, or four inches of warm water in the tub in the back. Ok?"

"sure." she ran from the room on a mission to get a metal five gallon bucket full of snow to melt on the stove.

As soon as his wife left the doctor turned back and began to pet Kodi. He ran his hand down Kodi's side. "Poor creature." he paused and petted Kodi a few more times then brought his voice down to a whisper. "I hope I can save your foot, but truthfully, I don't think I'm going to be able to save it."

Jenna gasped back in shock; a true medical man had just said that he didn't think he was going to be able to save their sons leg. Balto could see that she dare not weep, less she reveal their location and get them kicked out, but he could see the tears in her eyes. Balto moved closer until he was side by side with her. He nuzzled up to her, his head on the top of hers. She brought her head into his chest and for a moment they stayed that way, Balto beginning to have tears well up in his eyes. He couldn't imagine what his son would be like if he lost his foot. Balto knew that his son's life would be over; there would be nothing for him. He would never be able to run on the beach, with the team, or challenge his old man to a race. It would be over. Balto then heard someone walking up the hall and turn into the room

"Doctor, there's a musher with a dog in the back room. The dogs bleeding from the mouth pretty bad and he wants to know if there's any chance that you could save him?"

The doctor gave a smile at the slightly over weight nurse in the door way. "What! Does it look like I'm running a veterinarians office here?"

The nurse smiled at his humor. "Oh doctor." she turned out of the room and walked down the hall. The doctor sighed and walked out of the room.

Balto turned to Jenna. "I half to find out who it is."

"Go, I'll stay here and tell you if anything happens." she looked back up at the table Kodi was on.

Balto moved around Jenna and began to fallow the footsteps which fell heavy above him. Dust was knocked down from the floorboards as he walked creating a trail for him to fallow. The dust from the floorboards and cobwebs clouded and clogged his nose and eyes. The floor began to get lower and Balto found himself, at times, dragging his body against the ground, but only for a few feet. The doctor footsteps turned towards a metal grate.

"Hey doc." came a very familiar voice. Balto moved over to the grate and looked up. He could see Sam sitting on the edge of a table; Kaltag sat next to him, blood covering his chin.

"Hey Sam, so what's the problem with your dog here?" the doctor put his hands into his coat pocket and waited for an answer.

"Well. You've heard about the attack haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Well after the attack there was some blood coming out of his mouth, but it wasn't that much and I figured he would be ok. But after we finished the run he began to bleed even more, and I began to worry about him. So I figured that maybe you could decide if he's going to be ok, or if it would be easier to put him down."

The doctor's right hand had moved from his pocket to his chin. He shook his head with agreement, taking in all the symptoms that Sam's dog was having. "ok." he said walking up to the table that Kaltag was on. He put his bare fingers into the dogs' mouth and opened it. He squinted his eyes as he stared down Kaltag's throat, searching for the source of the bleeding. He pulled his hands out of the dog's mouth and walked to a table across the room. He returned with a stethoscope in his ears. He put the listening end up to Kaltag's chest, then moved it around to Kaltag's back. He then stood back, finally having an idea of what was wrong with him.

"Don't worry Sam; it's just some lacerations in the back of his throat…"

"Yeah but he bleeding so bad!" Sam yelled, almost shocked by the doctors diagnosis of a 'little laceration.'

"All he needs is a little rest and some water to keep the lacerations clean."

Sam leaned back and scratched his balding head. "Well I guess that's good news." Sam stood up "so how much do I owe you?" Sam said reaching into his pocket for his billfold.

The doctor grew a long smile across his face. He knew that Sam had a fifty burning a hole in his pocket and he planned to get it back. He put his hands back into his pockets and let the smile manifest Sam. "That'll be fifty dollars." the doctor said reaching out with his palm up, waiting for money.

"Fifty dollars?" Sam yelled. "But you just told me he was just fine and that in a few days he'll be on his feet."

"That I did." the doctor wiggled his finger indicating that he wanted money.

Sam grew a grim, slightly angry, look on his face. He threw his hand into his pocket and grabbed the fifty that lay loose among some ammo. He came forth with the bill and slapped it down into the doctor's hand. Then after loosing the money Sam seemed to cheer up. A smile grew across his face. "This is for the dog I sold your wife, isn't it?"

The doctor raised one of his eyebrows. "Maybe?"

"Doc you're a clever man…I take it you didn't like your wife's purchase?" Sam smiled evilly.

"Yeah, it's just what I need, another dog to lay around the house. Between him and clover, a dog my wife just couldn't live without." he stressed. "I'm going to be broke on dog food."

There was a tense moment of silence where both of them waited for the other to say something. Then Sam moved over to the table. "Well I guess I better get going." Sam lifted Kaltag up to his chest. He then turned and walked out of the room, the doctor fallowed.

Balto hurried back through the maze and tangle of webs and floor joists. He rejoined Jenna by her side. "Anything happen?" Balto said seating himself.

"No. no ones even entered the room." she didn't even bother to look at Balto.

The doctor came walking in, quickly fallowed by Kris. The doctor walked over to the table where Kodi was. He turned and looked at Kris who was at his side. "I think we'll put him in the bath before we sew his wounds up." she agreed with a simple head node. The doctor then reached his arms under Kodi's body and lifted him. Kodi lay limp in his arms as he was carried out of the room.

Jenna and Balto watched the doctor, fallowed by Kris, walk out of the room. For a moment Balto and Jenna stood still in the dark, watching where the footsteps went by the little bits of dust that fell from the floor boards. The thumping footsteps stopped near a back wall near yet another metal floor grate.

Balto and Jenna made there way as fast as they could over to it. They looked up through the grate and could see a white porcelain bath tub. It stood just away from the grate, below a glowing lantern. Next to the tub was a table with several stacks of white towels.

Bent over the tub were the doctor and Kris. Kodi lay in about six inches of water, his head held up by several of the folded towels that had been laid down under him. Kris and the doctor each held a towel. They filled the towel with water and rubbed it over his fur, melting the frozen blood over his body, trying to clean the wounds with the semi clean water. The water had turned from clear to a dark red, red enough that Kodi's leg couldn't be seen just under the water.

They both made quick work of Kodi, then laid there towels over the edge of the bath. The doctor then took off his lab coat and rolled up the sleeves of his long sleeve shirt. He leaned down into the tub and picked Kodi up under his arms. His wife threw several towels over Kodi and rubbed franticly. When she was satisfied with her work she removed the towels and fallowed her husband to the first room they were in, as did Balto and Jenna.

The doctor stepped into the room and set Kodi onto the table. His wife fallowed him into the room carrying his coat and several more towels. The doctor threw his coat on in a breeze and went to work checking Kodi's leg. He grabbed the foot in both hands and tried to bend it. The foot still wouldn't bend fully; they would half to get some more hot water and let his foot soak in it. The doctor turned to Kris. "Would you get a shallow dish and some more hot water?"

"Sure." Kris turned and left the room without a second thought.

As soon as his wife had vanished around the corner of the door the doctor moved to a cabinet across the room. He opened the wooden door of the cabinet and came forth with two syringes. The doctor then reached to a lower shelf and grabbed two vials, one being clear, and the other being slightly browned. He stuck one needle into the brown vial, held the vial upside down, and pulled the syringe fully of the liquid. He then repeated it with the other needle, and other vial of fluid.

The doctor walked back across the room and bellied up to the table. He took the needle into his right hand. He held it like a knife, ready to bring it down. He stabbed the needle into Kodi's thigh. As he did he pushed the plunger down with his thumb, pushing the fluid into his thigh. Kodi's leg twitched lightly as he did it.

Kris came walking back into the room carrying a low rimmed dish and metal teapot. She walked to the table and set the dish down, then took the pot in her right hand and poured it into the dish. When the dish reached a depth she liked she pushed it closer to the doctor.

"Ok honey." the doctor began. "Now put his foot down in that and start massaging it."

She lifted Kodi's foot up and slid the dish down under his foot. She then set the foot back down into the warm fluid. She then began to massage the foot with both her hands.

"I gave him a sedative and some antibiotics to fight against gang green." the doctor stated even though he didn't half to. The doctor then walked over to a drawer and grabbed a needle with some clean thread. He threaded the needle with a quick motion of his arm. He then set to work sewing the wound up. He worked painstakingly on the wound, stretching the skin together till it was touching, then making a quick x shaped stitch. He then repeated the process over again. For minutes they both worked almost feverously over Kodi, Kris massaging the leg and the doctor making the stitches.

After nearly four minutes the work they were done. They both stood back, arm around one another examining their work.

"Well, that's all we can do for him." the doctor stated looking over at his wife. "Now it's up to him." the doctor took his hand off of his wife. "Now why don't you go home and get some dinner ready for me. I'll bring him home when works over."

"Ok" she turned and walked out of the small room, fallowed by her husband. But the doctor stopped in the doorway. He reached over to a small lamp on the edge of the door, slowly turned the knob, and let the light go out.


	12. All ok

**Chapter 12 **

Balto and Jenna had spent the night together in the small shed out behind her master's house. Balto usually slept out on the boat by himself, but Jenna was very teary eyed and wanted someone to stay with her.

The night was spent half sleeping half worrying. Jenna would lay awake thinking about Kodi then after a few hours of laying awake she would fall asleep and wake Balto with a nudge of her side. Then Balto would wake up and spend the next few hours worrying about Kodi.

In the early morning they both awoke and sat in the silence of the small room thinking about Kodi. They would pass each other passing glances, but neither dared talk to the other to confirm the others thoughts.

Early in the morning they both went over to the doctor's to see how Kodi was doing. But Kodi was still inside and they couldn't see him. Later in the morning Kodi was put outside in the small shed behind the doctors with clover. A bowl of warm water and some boiled meat were laid out there as well. Kodi was unconscious on top of a pile of blankets in the corner of the shed and hadn't changed since the evening before, this was confirmed by clover.

Balto and Jenna showed up every half hour to see if Kodi was awake. But every time they were disappointed to find that nothing else had happened. This continued throughout the day past sunrise and sunset and late into the evening.

Balto and Jenna walked slowly through the dark dimly lit streets. The buildings towered high above them. They seemed to be glaring down atop Balto and Jenna. Their windows staring like the cold eyes of a dead man. The shadows from lantern lights that were hung on the front street and were always kept burning, cast shadows in a thousand different ways across the walls of the buildings.

Balto and Jenna walked side by side through these dark alleys. There shoulders were touching in a loving comforting manner as Balto rubbed his head against Jenna's shoulder. Neither of them talked as they walked but Balto kept glancing over at Jenna to see if she was ok.

Balto had been over to the doctor's only one other time before. It was shortly after the serum run when Rosy's parents went to thank the doctor for all he had done. Balto remembered the house had a very distinct smell of flowers. And this flower smell seemed to be there all winter. There was the smell of the small delicate blue flowers which grew all around Balto's boat; he would spend his early mornings during the summer smelling them from the bow of his boat.

Balto and Jenna rounded the corner of a large old building. The doctor's brown house seemed set out away from all the others in a loner fashion. The house was short, only a story tall with a loft area at the roof where the doctor and his wife would sleep. On the opposite side of the building there was a grey stone chimney which belched a thick white smoke. There was a window on this side of the house in the loft area that was covered with grey frost from the extreme cold which still covered the land. On this side of the house there was a small ten by twelve porch with a stairway leading up one corner. There was a trail carved in the deep snow that led from one corner of the porch to the other where the door was. Buried in the snow just up from the porch was a dog sled that had been converted into a flower box for the summer months.

Balto and Jenna moved around the front of the building to the shed which lay hidden behind the house. Balto and Jenna had carved a trail into the snow from there previous visits to the house. They walked around the front of the doctor's house and to the back shed.

The shed was covered with a light fluffy powdery snow that flowed off the extended roof of the house onto the shed. Snow was built up between the shed and the doctor's house to the heights of the roof of the shed. Along the other side the snow was rippled in a large pile that had been pushed up against the shed by the prevailing winds. The shed had the same brown vertical siding as the house did. There was a single door with a tattered rope hanging off of the door handle. The shed opened in with rusty metal hinges on the outside.

Balto and Jenna stopped at the corner of the house to stare at the shed. Neither of them wanted to go into the shed for the fear that Kodi still wouldn't be awake. They both stared at the door of the shed, which was glowing orange from the distant glow of a lantern, waiting for something to happen.

Then they heard it. It was a whispering talk coming from within the shed.

Jenna bolted forward with excitement. She jumped up and pushed her paws onto the wooden door to throw it open. The door flew open and she came down on her feet just inside the door. She stared in towards the corner where Kodi had been and was exuberant to see that Kodi had his head up with clover laying behind him.

Jenna ran across the hardwood floor of the shed to greet Kodi who was lying down on a pile of old blankets in the corner. She nuzzled up against him as Tears began to run down her muzzle and drop off the sides of her jaws. She began to weep, taking in large gasping breaths between her weepings.

"Oh Kodi I was so worried that you had gone over a deep end."

"Oh don't worry mom, I would never think of leaving without saying good by." Kodi said with a smile as Jenna stopped nuzzling him and stepped back to examine her son.

"So how are you feeling Kodi?" Balto said stepping up next to Jenna. Jenna glanced over at Balto.

"Well dad, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm nice and warm thanks to a little help." Kodi glanced over at clover.

"What about your foot." Jenna said abruptly, almost rudely.

"We'll, my foots messed up I'm pretty sure. It hurts a lot when I put any weight on it, and I can't bring it up to my body so I can walk on my other three legs. So I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be stuck lying down for a while." Kodi smiled. "So what are you two doing here? Did you just come to see if I was ok, like I've heard you have been doing all morning?"

"Well." Jenna said nudging Balto with her side. Balto glanced over wondering what she wanted but when he saw the look in her eyes he knew what to say.

"Well." Balto picked up. "We just came by to congratulate the father to be."

Kodi at first thought that they were talking about themselves, but then why did Balto say it about himself. Then it hit him, he knew who they were talking about. He turned and looked at clover who had turned her head the other way in embarrassment. Kodi glanced back at his parents, then back at clover.

"You mean…you … and me…pups?"

Balto and Jenna put the sides of their heads together to watch there sons reaction to a new family.

Kodi stared at his mate with a slightly shocked yet dumbfound look of excitement.

"Well I suppose we better go so these two love birds can get talking about there future family." Balto gave Jenna a light nudge with his shoulder trying to get her to move. Jenna took the hint.

"Yes I suppose we better get moving. These two must have a lot to talk about." she turned and walked back out of the shed where she turned to look back at both of them. Balto fallowed behind her.

They stood in the doorway of the shed for a moment watching the two of them stare at each other in silence. Balto grabbed hold of the rope that hung from the handle of the door with his teeth and pulled the shed door closed.

Balto and Jenna turned with a smile on each of there faces.

"Don't worry Jenna. I bet tomorrow they will be more than willing to talk to us. They just need some time alone."

"I know, I know, that's why I was so willing to leave."

They both walked out in front of the doctor's house then back around the front of the old building. Then Jenna turned to Balto.

"This is one proudest moments of my life."

"Me to Jenna. Me to."


	13. A crime in the dark

**chapter 13 **

Three creatures bound up from the riverbed onto the river bank. They were just outside of the town of Nome on the trail that the dogs had used earlier. The three wolves paused to look at town and make sure that no dogs or humans might be watching them. When they were satisfied that no one was watching they formed a small circle to talk.

"Ok, now what?" young one eye asked Agrona.

"You two will fallow me. You two will keep silent and out of the way. And when I catch him and beat him into his place, you two will make sure that he doesn't try to escape again. Got it?"

"Got it." one eye and the older one responded in unison.

Agrona turned and began to track the team. He fallowed the tracks of the dogsled all the way to the foot of a building where he stopped. Agrona began making small circles in the snow, one eye and the old one stood in the snow watching Agrona circle them making five small circles, gradually getting bigger with each turn, then he stopped. He began sniffing at one spot in the snow.

"He lay here." Agrona said. But neither one eye nor the old one knew what to say.

Agrona kept sniffing, then moved over several feet. "He was drug here." Agrona moved his head in very small circles around the last spot where he could smell the dog. "He was picked up here…" Agrona moved away from where he last sniffed and began sniffing at the snow again. "And carried this way."

One eye and the old one fallowed after him. Agrona moved through the snow towards an alley. He kept his nose close to the ground as he moved, at time bumping it against the snow and getting a nose full of snow.

One eye and the old one were a little bit afraid of the human village. They had never been this close to anything that the humans had built. These buildings were all so strange to them. They both looked up at the tops of the buildings in wonder at how these two legged creatures had built something so large and massive.

One eye being so curious moved over to the side of one of the large buildings. He lifted his right paw up off the snow and put it up against the building. It was solid like a tree. He put more weight onto his paw expecting something to happen, but nothing. He put his paw down and put his nose to the building. The side of the building smelled like the trees that were in the forest, but how did they make this out of that.

"Hey, hurry up." the older one said just before vanishing around the corner of the building. One eye hurried to catch up.

Agrona was already far ahead of them. They both picked there slow trot up to a light run to catch up to Agrona. They both caught up to him just as he was vanishing around the corner of a building. Agrona slowed down now and sniffed more often. They were walking up towards a street. The steady glow from the lantern lighting up one end of the alley. Agrona moved in close to the wall of the building and carefully moved towards the street. He paused at the corner of the building to scope the area out for any sign of humans or dogs. There were none.

He looked back at one eye and the old one to make sure they were still fallowing him. He then pushed out into the street and into the direct light from the lantern. He continued on down along the street for another two alleys before stopping at the stoop of a large building.

One eye and the old one looked around fearfully. They looked down either side of the street and alleys searching for any sign that something was coming.

Agrona didn't seem to concerned that something was coming. He sniffed at the bottom step for the minute stink of the dog. It was there.

Agrona moved up the steps fallowing the smell of the dog. He stopped at the base of a large green double door. He sniffed at the bottom of the door and could smell the dog stink there.

"He was brought into this place." Agrona stopped sniffing at the bottom of the door and began to move back down the stoop. "But he is not here. He was moved again." Agrona stopped in the snow at the bottom of the stoop; he sniffed at the snow then raised his head dramatically. "This way."

Agrona took off at a fast trot, his head kept low to the ground to keep on the trail of the dog. He moved fast for being in tracking mode, one eye and the old one ran after Agrona. Agrona moved up one street, then down another; he cut through alleys then came to the corner of a large old building.

He stopped suddenly at the corner of the building, one eye and the old one stopped right behind him.

"Their." Agrona said looking at a house set out away from the others. "This is the building."

"How do you know?" one eye asked peaking around the old building at the small house.

"Trust me," Agrona said with a growl. "I know."

Agrona moved across the snow in the trail towards the building. Agrona moved up onto the porch and to the door. One eye and the old one stayed off the porch and watched as Agrona sniffed at the bottom of this door as well. He then came back across the porch, down the steps, and curved around the front of the house with his head to the ground.

He came around the corner and was facing the small shed behind the house. Agrona went into a stealth mode. He no longer moved with such speed and carelessness. His feet carefully touched the snow with the delicateness of a cat. He stopped at the bottom of the door and began to sniff. But after taking only one quick sniff he stopped and stepped back to one eye and the old one.

"I can hear them inside." Agrona whispered making sure that the occupants of the building wouldn't hear. "There's two of them in their. It sounds like a male and a female talking to one another. So I don't think that there will be a problem."

"So what do you want us to do?" one eye asked.

Agrona smiled evilly. "I want you to knock the door down."

One eye took the words and knew what too do. He moved around the corner of the building and lined himself up with the door of the shed. He dug his feet down into the snow in preparation too hit the door. He glanced one more time at Agrona for the approved look that he would give him. He got it.

One eye bound forward with three bouncing hops and hit the door with his shoulder. The door flung open wildly and smashed the top corner into the roof, breaking the top corner to several sharp pieces. One eye fell to the floor just inside the shed to the gasps of it's inhabitants.

Agrona and the old one stepped in on either side of one eye. They both growled and held their body's low to the floor as one eye stood up.

"Who are you?" Kodi yelled, still lying down. Clover cowered in fear behind him.

"That's him." one eye yelled. Agrona bound forward and sunk his teeth into Kodi's shoulder. He pulled Kodi from his sleeping place. Then he threw Kodi against the side of the room. Kodi hit the side of the room with a crash. Then Agrona stopped and calmed himself to speak.

"So this is where you live?" Agrona said walking slowly towards Kodi, Kodi lay on the floor of the shed watching him.

"What do you want?" Kodi tried to bring himself to his feet; he stood half way up then collapsed back on the floor.

Agrona stepped closer to Kodi when his foot flipped the tin bowl of meat. Agrona looked down at the meat that had rolled out of the tin and rested between his feet. He then looked back up at Kodi.

"You must constantly have a full belly." Agrona said with a half grin. "Never have to fight for your food, never have to worry about starving to death like the rest of us. Huh?"

"What are you doing here?" Kodi tried to bring himself to his feet again but couldn't.

"I'm here to take you back to my den where you will learn your place."

"What if I refuse to go with you?"

Agrona smiled and stepped closer. "Then I'll take you." Agrona gave an even eviler smile. "Now pick this garbage up off the floor and take him." he turned and walked towards clover who still lay on the bed of old blankets.

One eye and the old one came walking to Kodi. One eye grabbed him by his left shoulder. He pulled him from the wall so the old one could get hold of the other shoulder. The old one grabbed hold of Kodi's right shoulder and they both tried to life. Kodi wouldn't move. They were able to pick Kodi up but Kodi was unable to stand for them. Kodi's foot was in too much pain for him to pick himself up. One eye and the old one soon dropped him.

"Agrona, this dog is to heavy, and he wont stand under his own feet." one eye complained.

Agrona had been staring at clover for some time already. Clover tried to hide behind the mass of blankets, hoping that they would just leave them both and go away, but she knew that it wouldn't happen.

"Well," Agrona began. "Like I said, if we can't get him to come with us, we'll just take something special to him."

"But that was about the half wolf." one eye pleaded.

"I said we'll take something special!" Agrona barked, fallowed by a sharp growl. He then turned and looked back at the female who was still quivering behind the large pile of blankets. "Something very special."

"No!" Kodi yelled. He put his foot down onto the floor and flinched at the pain coursing up his leg and down his spine. He stood up, tears beginning to flow down his face. "I can walk just fine." he declared gruffly.

"He isn't resisting anymore." the old one said.

"I told you what were taking." Agrona didn't bother to look at Kodi, but instead kept moving himself closer to clover. He gave her a quick huffing sniff.

"I'm not going!" clover bolted forward and snapped her jaws down just in front of Agrona's muzzle. She raised that hair on the back of her neck and growled, teeth gleaming at him.

Agrona bolted back when she did this. Then calmed. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to convince you to go."

Agrona turned, took a few steps and bit Kodi on the shoulder. Kodi fell over with pain from his leg. He lay on his side as Agrona brought his teeth around Kodi's throat. Kodi feared moving less he get the wolf angry and he ripped out his throat.

Agrona momentarily let go of Kodi's throat. "Now make a choice, you come with us? Or I leave him hear and take you with me anyway?"

Clover stared at Kodi, his eyes filled with fear as he stared into the void of the shed. Agrona began to bring his jaws closer on Kodi's throat. Kodi let out a squeak of pain and fear. Clover's eye bolted back and forth, up and down.

"ok." she finally gave in. "I will go with you."

"good." one eye let Kodi drop from his jaws. "Now lets get out of here before someone finds out were here."

The old one and one eye walked over to clover. One eye got on her right side. Clover watched him move in front of her with a glare, the old one stood on her left.

"Ok lets go." Agrona said gruffly while walking out of the shed. One eye waited for clover to move but she didn't. One eye opened his jaws and nipped her on the shoulder. Clover moved at the nip and glared once again at one eye. She then moved forward out of the door. Just before exiting the door she glanced back to see Kodi struggling to his feet; in her mind she hopped that Kodi would get up and fight them off, but she knew that Kodi was too weak.

Once outside the door they lead her around the corner of the shed and picked up speed away from town. Within moments they were on the riverbed and on there way to the den.

Kodi struggled to his feet. But he wasn't quite all the way on his feet. His shoulder was leaned up against the wall along with his head. Tears rolled down his muzzle, staining his fur with them. But something was happening inside of him, anger was growing exceptionally fast.

Kodi suddenly put his bad food down on the ground with a grunt. He limped to the door where he raised his head high to the sky and yelled. "Clover!"


	14. A rescue team

**Chapter 14 **

Balto looked up just as the moon edged it's way out from behind a building. The moon was nothing more than a sliver adrift in a sea of stars. The combined light from the moon and stars created a pale blue glow, which for the dogs seemed like the middle of the day, but for humans still seemed inky dark.

Balto brought his gaze down from the stars and the moon to the dark alley he stood at the end of. On Balto's left, in between two large piles of broken wooden boxes which were being chopped up for firewood; were thirty dogs, all lined up, their tales hung straight down, their heads and ears held high with the yellow pale glow of a distant lantern on the left side of their faces. They were intently listening to the story which Kodi was reciting.

Kodi limped along in front of the dogs telling the story of what happened earlier in the evening. Kodi's bum leg was tucked up against his body to keep it away from the cold ground, and to keep it from bouncing painfully off the ground. Kodi walked with a bounce in his step. He would step forward with his front feet then with his one back leg would bounce his hips to catch up.

It was late in the evening and the temperature hung around forty five below. The breath from all the dogs crackled and popped as soon as it left their mouth. They lifted their feet in a rotation movement; first lifting the front right, then the front left, then the back left, and back right. Each time that they lifted their feet there was a sticky ripping sound that sounded like tape being removed.

Balto watched and listened to Kodi as he told the story that he had already heard earlier in the evening. Balto was afraid for Kodi. He was afraid that Kodi was trying to drum up a army that wasn't listening, or that didn't want to fight. But Balto knew that if he got the dogs will on his side they would fallow him to the grave.

Balto glanced over at the dogs on his left and could see several dogs that he recognized. There was Nikke Kaltag and star standing nearly in the middle of the pack of dogs. Balto feared a little for star; he was so small and weak that any wolf who wanted to could rip him right in half. Balto could also pick out a few females standing in the crowd of male dogs. Even though most male dogs thought that female dogs were no good for fighting or pulling, Balto always knew that were just as tough as any male dog.

Balto glanced back at Kodi who was just beginning his turn around. He planted his good back leg then swiveled with his front feet until he was facing the other way.

Balto feared what would happen to Kodi if he went on this mission. Balto knew that if Kodi froze his foot one more time he would definitely loose it. Balto tried to picture what his son would look like without a foot, which wasn't hard because he had it tucked up against his body. Balto found it hard to picture his son in this state for the rest of his life. But if Kodi didn't go after the wolves who took clover how would he live. Kodi would never be able to live up to having stayed behind while a team of rescuers went out in search of his love. Balto knew that if he were in Kodi's position he would do the same thing and do anything to find his love.

"so." Kodi interjected with a slightly higher pitch of voice than he had been talking in in order to get everyone's attention. Balto glanced to his left to see if any of the dogs had had the same sudden reaction to Kodi, but Balto was the only one who had jumped like that.

"if we intend to abolish this preponderant force, we must band together. Because apart, none of us are able to have a spitting fight, but together we can overcome anything." Kodi paused in the middle of the line of dogs where he sat facing them. "I'm not asking any of you to become hero's. I'm just asking that you are willing to fight for me." Kodi paused letting the words sink in. he then lowered his head and stared at the ground in front of him. "I will not think any of you as cowards if you decide to stay. But I ask you, if you don't fight now your going to half to fight sometime. Because they wont stop doing this. If it isn't clover, it could be you who is taken by them. So, whoever will fight with me, if you would take one step forward."

Kodi paused, waiting for the few and the brave to step forward. But moments passed with no movement. The dogs all looked at one another waiting for another to take the first step.

Balto also saw this and knew that he had to do something. He took several steps forward until he was right next to Kodi. He raised his head, puffed out his chest, and in the most delightful tone of heroism. "I'll fight with you son."

The dogs all turned their heads to see Balto's brave action of being the first too say he would go. But they all knew that Balto would of gone anyway, it was just that he had decided to go first.

"me too."

"yeah I'll go."

"lets kill them all."

"I will help in anyway possible."

All the dogs suddenly burst out and took there steps forward. They began cheering and yelling, for they were off to be heroes.

The dogs all turned, lined up, and began there march out of town. They still yelled and howled at how much fun this was going to be. But Balto knew that the dogs who were saying this didn't know what they were getting into.

Balto ran to the front of the pack and seated himself right next to Kodi in order to talk to him.

"Kodi are you sure that you should be going."

Kodi glanced over with a scowl on his face. "and what if I didn't go, hmmm. Then what would all the other dogs in town think of me?"

"they would think of you as a coward, sending others to fight your battle."

"exactly." Kodi pushed his hopping limp ahead of Balto. "now come on line up. Hurry up, we got to get up there as fast as we can."

Balto fell behind until he was as the very back of the pack just behind star. The line of dogs began to make there way up the ridgeline to the east of the river. But right off the bat the rescue team ran into problems. The snow on the southern flank of the ridge was nearly ten feet deep. It was this way because the wind blew down the valley and the snow that was on the wind would fall off into a eddy and pack itself down on the very bottom of the valley.

The dogs wallowed chest deep in the snow. They each tried to bound forward through the snow, but were only digging themselves down into the snow. Kodi had made it the farthest by lowering himself down onto his belly and crawling up the hill. The other dogs noticed this and began to do the same thing. In ten minutes they had made it to the top of the snow bank and took a moment to rest on a plateau with hardly a bit of snow.

The dogs then lined out to nearly one hundred feet in length. Fallowing one behind the other. They forced themselves up through more snow banks and more plateaus. They kept this up, getting higher and higher, colder and colder. Until the stream in the valley off to their left appeared to be a small line moving through the land.

The sun came up but they didn't bother stopping to let it warm their fur. They kept moving, the sun temporarily warming there back. Then the sun went down and a afternoon storm began to blow up.

It wasn't the kind of storm where a lot of snow fell, but the kind of storm where the wind did nothing but blow, and blow hard. The storm blew snow off of the peak above them, swirling the particles of snow around them so the snow was bighting at them from the downhill side. Their vision became fogged with the snow, they were barely able to see the back end of the dog in front of them. The snow bit into their nose's, filled their ears, and covered their fur. Soon their fur blended perfectly with the snow they were walking on. Ice hung from there noses and mouths, life had become miserable.

None of them knew how far, or how long, they had walked. None of them really cared how long or how far they had walked. They just wondered if they were going to be able to put up a fight when they got there, if they got there.

There was a sudden slight clear to the storm. The wind had stopped blowing for a moment and the crystalline bits of snow slowly fluttered to earth. Balto looked up and could see the line of dogs snaking up the hill. he spit some ice that had accumulated on the front of his muzzle. Balto's entire face had been crusted with snow, his ears held heavy with snow packed inside of his ears. The snow around his face had melted with the heat from his breath and froze to create one solid ice sheet. He stared at the dogs making there way up the hill. He knew that they had to take a rest or there would be no fight, but instead a massacre.

Balto glanced down from the hill to the dog in front of him. His flanks were covered with snow, much like all the other dogs in this parade. He walked stiff legged, his knees seemingly unable to bend. Balto had to do something, they had to take a break.

"star, are you ok." Balto yelled over the wind that beat at his ears.

"yeah I guess so." star turned, on his face he wore a mask of snow that ran up his cheeks and down the bridge of his nose. The only two spots on his face that hadn't any snow on them were his eye's and nose. "but I could sure use a break."

"yeah me too. Listen sit down and rest for a while. I'm going to go see what Kodi is thinking."

Star didn't bother to throw in his two cents, but sat in the snow like instructed.

Balto moved off to the snow on the side of the trail and began to make his way up the hill; as long as the wind kept down for a few minutes he would be able to make it up there in no time. Balto ran along up next to the trail. As he past the other dogs he would lean over and yell. "sit down. Were taking a break."

Balto closed in on the last dog behind Kodi. He leaned over and yelled his command, then continued on to Kodi.

Balto had hardly noticed the faint trail of red in the snow at his feet. He slid to a stop to examine it. He got his face right down next to it and cleared the particles of snow away with a brush of his right paw. It was blood, and in the shape of a foot print, a dogs foot print.

Balto looked up where the trail went, his ears began to flap as the wind picked up again and the snow began to drive into him. Balto searched the white fog in front of him to see Kodi's hind end, but didn't.

"Kodi must be a little bit farther than everyone else." Balto whispered to himself.

Balto picked up the pace and began a steady trot after Kodi. Balto hadn't gone more then twenty yards when he caught up to him.

Kodi was standing, just standing, in the snow with his back end to Balto. Kodi's back was covered with the same kind of snow that was on Balto's. but the snow on Kodi's back still couldn't hide the thick luxurious red fur from coming through.

Kodi could hear someone coming so turned his head to see who it was. When he noticed the snow covered creature coming towards him Kodi began to walk forward. "come on lets go, we don't have time to waste."

"wait."

Balto moved around the side of Kodi. For a moment Kodi just stared at Balto wondering who it was. Kodi thought for a moment wondering who the voice belonged to. "is that you dad?"

"yes"

Kodi looked back to see if any others were fallowing but didn't see any. He then looked at Balto, knowing what Balto had done.

"why have you stopped us?"

"we need a break. Were exhausted, and if we keep at this pace we will be in no shape to fight."

Kodi shook his head silently in agreement, they hadn't stopped since early this morning at the top of the first plateau.

Balto looked Kodi over. Balto could see the snow that stuck to Kodi's back leg was red with blood. A very small pool of blood had formed under the foot.

"are you ok Kodi?"

"yeah just fine." Kodi was busy looking up the hill.

"your foot looks horrible."

Kodi turned to look at the foot. "it looks a lot worse than it really is."

Balto knew he was lying.

"we should go see how close we are." Kodi turned and walked up the hill through the swirling bighting snow; Within just ten feet Kodi vanished from Balto's sight in the swirling torment of snow. Balto chased up after him and quickly caught up with him, he then set in stride next him.

The hill seemed to go on forever, constantly up with the wind swirling around them. Balto knew that they wouldn't be able to have a fight in this weather. The temperature was unbelievably cold, and with the wind chill it was incomprehensible.

Then it appeared out of the storm up to their left. It was a boulder face sticking nearly straight up out of the top of the mountain. The boulder was rounded but had a triangular shape. It was made out of gray granite splattered with black bits of crystal, all clearly visible in the storm.

Kodi and Balto moved side by side to it but found it to steep to climb. Kodi moved around one side of it while Balto moved around the other. Balto found nothing but the steep silver black granite. He tried once to jump up onto it and climb, but was only defeated back down into the snow.

"dad, over here." came Kodi's faint whisper.

Balto ran around the other side of the rock fallowing Kodi's blood trail. Balto thought about Kodi's bleeding once again. It seemed so bad, wherever he stepped a puddle of blood was left.

"up here dad."

Balto looked up and could see Kodi scratching along the side of the rock face. Kodi's left side was facing Balto, his feet all held together on a single point. Balto watched, almost helplessly, as Kodi edged along the rock face, the wind blowing and beating his fur; his feet ever so delicately touching the rocks on which he stood. Kodi then edged his way around the corner of a rock outcropping and vanished. Balto waited several seconds, several tense seconds where anything could happen.

"come on dad, it's safe." Kodi said firm and reassuringly from some safe point.

Balto could see a slight crack in the rock, a crack at least two inches wide that moved at a angle up around the front of the rock. In this crack Balto could see the blood drippings of Kodi. Balto put his front feet in the crack of the rock and lined them one in front of the other. He made sure that his footing was good, then put his back feet in the same order into the lower part of the crack.

Balto was set. He began to edge his way up the rock face with same delicateness of a ballerina, his toes spreading around the sharp edge of the rock. He walked carefully, making sure that his foot was in place, then shifting his weight to that foot.

Balto then came to a spot in the rock where the crack no longer continued in any direction. He checked all his foot holds to make sure that he was secure, then looked over his left shoulder at the spot where Kodi had been earlier. There was no crack or trail on which to walk, but there was a flatter spot in the rock, a place where the steepness of the rock face receded into a thirty degree icy slop.

Balto checked his footholds once again then looked over at what he had to do. He instantly figured out all the foot movements in his head then moved to do them. He lifted his front feet off the rock, balancing his weight on his back feet. He shifted with his hips putting his front feet on the sloped rock, then hopped up with his back feet.

The ice was slippery and Balto could feel himself slipping every so slightly on the rock face. He stepped forward moving quickly across the icy slope, the exact opposite of what Kodi had done but it worked the same.

Balto came to the rock outcropping that Kodi had vanished around. Around the back of the rock outcropping was a large crack, big enough to walk inside, which led up at an angle to the top of the rock. Balto passed easily up to it.

At the top of the rock face Balto was immediately exposed to the harsh wind. There was no snow in the wind and it didn't bight at him like it had. The wind was nothing more than that, wind Balto looked into the wind, his eyes began to water and freeze instantly, but he could still see Kodi's back, now bare of snow from the bighting wind. Balto jumped up onto the rock top and let the full force of the wind get to him.

The top of the rock was rounded like the top of a bald persons head with many lines and wrinkles across it. Balto moved over next to Kodi where he sat.

"see anything?" Balto asked.

Below them stretched the valley long and wide with the river snaking it's way along. On the very far left of Balto's vision, below and rock cliff, was the clearing where they had fought the wolves earlier. The mountain across the valley, near the ridge, had snow swirling off of the peaks. Just up the river was one large hanging valley that split off of the main valley. Trees came from the mouth of the valley down into the river which mean that there was a creek flowing down it.

Balto watched it very close, watched the field that ran down from the valley and ended just above the river.

"there." Kodi said staring at the same place Balto was. "that's where they are."

"how do you know?"

"I know." Kodi stood and began to turn around.

"how?"

Kodi paused and glanced back at his father. "trust me," he turned his head back. "I have a hunch."

Kodi continued on down the rock the same way he had come up. Balto paused at the top to notice the weather along the ridge they were walking under. The wind moved over the ridge of the mountain, picking up snow, then swirled over and over in a tumbling torrent right where the dogs were walking. Balto fallowed right behind him. They both bound down through the swirling snow until they met up with the very front of the rescue team.

"ok were getting ready to go." Kodi said yelling over the wind to the first dog. "pass it back that were going."

The dog turned and yelled over the wind that they were going, but neither Balto or Kodi could hear what he said exactly.

Kodi turned to begin leading once again but Balto had to ask him one last question. Balto stepped forward and nudged Kodi with his nose. Kodi turned to see what he wanted.

"are you sure your up to this?" Balto yelled at him over the wind.

Kodi eyed Balto. "I'm up to anything." Kodi then turned and walked off into the storm.


	15. One last fight

**Chapter 15**

The young wolf sat with his back up against a large boulder at the base of a several thousand foot boulder field. He sat under a large pine which protruded from under the rock at a angle. He sat, his back slumped over his shoulders in a very lazy, tired, manner.

The wolf was young and had never experienced the grace of summer across his fur. He had heard the stories of how the summer brought much meat and warmth to the clan. He had heard the stories so often, and in such detail, that he would sometimes sit up at night and dream of a full belly.

Agrona had known that the dogs would most likely come after one of their own, so he set up a defensive perimeter. He sent sentinels upstream and downstream of the den. But as Agrona sat looking up at the side of the mountain he realized that an attack could come from up there. He sent a sentinel to the opposite side of the valley under the only possible way that they could attack from, the boulder field.

And that's what the young wolf had been doing for the past eight hours, sitting in the darkness with a hungry belly and tired mind.

A gust of wind blew the tree above him, sending a pinecone plummeting from the top of the tree to rest between his feet. The falling pine cone had awoken him from a long odd slumber where he was awake, but yet he wasn't. he looked down at the pinecone between his front feet and looked at the paw sized pinecone in anger. He raised his right paw and smacked the pinecone away through the trees.

"why do I have to be out here? Nothings going to happen." the young wolf said as if someone was listening to him and would quickly answer him. "I should be out hunting. there not going to try and fight their way down this boulder field. That would be suicide."

The wolf glanced about the forest again as another gust of wind blew the tops of the trees.

"I should just go to sleep." he stated defiantly. "who's going to notice if I do, huh, that's right, no one?"

He began to stretch his legs out in front of him in preparation for a nap when his stomach let out a furious growl. The wolf glanced at his belly. His belly was sunk up against his backbone, and his ribs were washboards across his side. He ignored his empty belly like he had for some time and lay down with his paws crossed under his chin.

"I do wish I had something to eat…yeah something nice and fat, like a caribou." he closed his eyes and dreamed of the red delicious meat, fat, plump, and warm. It had been so long since he had eaten caribou meat that he wondered if he remembered what it tasted like.

There were three quick scratches along the side of a nearby tree. The wolf threw his eyes open to it. He scanned the forest around him for the source of the noise, but everything was silent. He was just about to close his eyes when he heard it again.

"what is that?" he raised his head up off his paws and looked around

Then he saw it, a squirrel.

The squirrel came running down in a corkscrew motion around the tree, making the same scratching noise as he moved down the trunk. The squirrel paused about four feet from the ground, chattered a few times in the search of a friend, or perhaps danger. The squirrel then dropped from the tree and landed firmly at the base of the tree not more than ten feet away.

"a squirrel." the wolf said, his eyes wide, his jaw dropped and saliva gushing forth. They were very rare to see in the winter, but not uncommon. He was now standing and didn't know exactly how he had come to this point without knowing it. He looked at the plump little morsel of food bounding through the forest floor and thought of the great taste he would bring to his taste buds. He had to have him.

The wolf instantly went into stealth mode. His ears pointed straight towards the sky to catch every sound he could, his paws became light for the crunchy snow, and his fur became the forest and snow for the hunt.

The squirrel stood with it's left side to the wolf, never once looking in the direction of the wolf, probably to busy searching for a hidden stash of nuts to look out for danger.

The wolf took one step forward and listened to the snow crunch up around his feet. He stopped before he could put his foot all the way down into the snow and raised his eyes to look at the squirrel. That squirrel must be deaf he thought. The squirrel hadn't moved an inch.

The squirrel took off bounding away from the wolf towards some unseen place. He bound through the deep snow making crunching sounds as his tiny feet broke through the hard pack layer of snow. He ran twenty feet through the forest before coming to a stop in between two large trees. The squirrel paused for another moment, this time he might have been searching for danger. The squirrel then dove his head down into the snow to find his secret stash.

The wolf saw his opportunity. He ran, keeping one eye on the squirrel, the other on the trail in front of him. He moved over to the tree that the squirrel had originally come down, perhaps if the squirrel returned he could get a quick grasp at him. He paused behind the tree which was half as thin as he was. This wouldn't work, the squirrel would see him a mile off.

The squirrel stopped momentarily to look around for danger. But again he didn't see the wolf, even when he looked right at the wolf. The squirrel quickly finished his diggings and buried the hole he had just dug. The squirrel paused once again to look around for danger. Then he moved back towards the tree.

The wolf could see the squirrel running towards him. He would only have a moment to grab the squirrel. He peaked his head around the edge of the tree, his teeth drooling with yellow saliva.

The squirrel stopped a foot from the tree. He looked around, sensing the danger and impending doom. The wolf lurched around the edge of the tree and had the squirrel in his mouth before the squirrel even knew what was going to kill him.

The wolf chomped down on the squirrel, making sure that it was good and dead. He paused for a moment to smile at his catch; and to feel the squirrel's blood running across his tongue. The blood made him involuntarily chew. But why eat standing?

The wolf turned in the direction that he had come from with the prize held high in his mouth. He closed his eyes to taste the blood rolling across his tongue better.

The wolf opened his eyes and dropped the prized catch in the snow in front of him. Around him were thirty dogs, all snarling with their heads held low to the ground, ready to strike at an instant. The wolf moved his gaze across the half circle of dogs that surrounded him. The dogs all had a evil sly grin on their faces showing their blood thirsty eyes with eagerness.

The wolf knew what he had to do. He had to send out the call in order for the other wolves to come to his aid. He cocked his head back in preparation to howl but the dogs were on him in seconds.

They bound, ripped, tore, and killed the wolf in just seconds. None of the dogs stayed to even see if they had finished the job off. They had bigger fish to fry. They moved through the forest in a wide, sweeping fan formation stretching nearly thirty feet wide and ten feet thick.

Balto glanced back as they ran and could see that alliances had been made between dogs. The dogs would run together, shoulder to shoulder with spaces between this set of dogs and the next. Balto turned and looked at Kodi who was running in front of him. Balto wished that he could protect Kodi and make the same sort of alliance with him, but knew that Kodi had to do this on his own.

They ran through the forest towards the river. They dropped down the bank of the river, across the ice, and up the other riverbank. They continued on through the forest, when they came across a trail in the snow.

The trail was cut nearly a foot deep into the snow. It had been used quit often judging by the fresh tracks and fresh scent.

All the dogs lined up along the trail in one straight line and looked to Kodi for their next move. Kodi leaned over and sniffed at the bottom of the trail. Balto carefully watched his facial expressions as he did. Kodi stared straight, then lowered his brow, he then turned his head to Balto with a firm stern look on his face. Balto knew that she had passed here.

Balto was the last one to fall into the trail because he wanted to be in the very back to make sure that they were all ready to fight and that he would be able to be with any of them who had a last minute thought.

The team was lined up nose to tail in one fifty foot long line that snaked through the trees. Balto watched the dogs and could smell their fear. He could hear them wining and whimpering, but couldn't tell exactly who it was coming from. The trees closed in ominously around them making the already dark night even darker.

The trail moved up and down small mogul like hills. Then Balto could see it. The trail opened up ahead of them to a large field that was curved into the hill by the stream.

They came into the clearing in one long train. Within moments of being in the field a loud gaping howl was sent out from the top of the hill. The dogs all turned and broke into a spread out stride up the hill.

From the top of the hill where the howl had come from wolves began to flood down the hill. First ten wolves came running out from the tree line fallowed by another ten, than another ten. All surging and hopping down the hill through the thick powder which flew up around their body's as they ran.

The dogs bound up the hill through the deep snow which limited there movements and kept them from getting to far up the hill.

They collided a quarter of the way up the hill in a fury of growls and snarls. They dogs seemed to be instantly beat down, but it was just the fact that the wolves had just jumped atop the dogs and it only took a moment for the dogs to throws the wolves to the ground.

Balto watched as Kodi burst through the line of wolves and continued up the hill. Balto tried to fallow him but the wolves that Kodi had burst through instead leapt atop Balto and began to bight and fight.

Balto snarled, the wolves snarled, and blood began to fly. Balto fell back into the snow with one of the two wolves atop him. They wolf tried to bight desperately at Balto's throat, but couldn't because Balto's paws were jammed inside the wolves mouth. Balto could feel the blood beginning to surge from his paws. It hurt and he knew that he had to get the wolf. Balto rolled over, jamming his paws deeper into the wolves mouth. The wolf gagged on his paws as another wolf jumped on Balto.

The wolf bit down hard on Balto's back. Balto, with his front paws still in the wolfs mouth, jumped with his back feet, flipping the wolf over his back, and also freeing himself from the first wolfs teeth.

The second wolf began to roll down the hill and Balto knew he couldn't let that wolf get away. Balto made two leaping bounds down the hill and managed to grab the wolf by his neck. Balto squeezed tighter, feeling the blood flow into his mouth, feeling the energy of knowing that he was about to take another's life. He did.

Balto's jaws bit down with a sudden snap. He let go as quickly as he had snapped down onto his neck. Balto looked down and could see blood flowing from the tooth holes that he had left in his neck. The wolf was still alive, but was unable to move, Balto must have broken his wind pipe and he was suffocating.

The first wolf recovered quickly and jumped atop Balto and sunk his teeth into Balto's neck. Balto could feel the wolves teeth sinking down, nearly to the bone in his neck. Balto made another jump with his back legs but the wolf was already prepared for this and held tight to Balto's back. Balto then made a roll with his shoulder, forcing the wolf up over his front shoulder and Balto coming down on top of him.

The wolf let go and Balto slid further down the hill, but only far enough that his head was on the wolves soft underbelly. Balto seized the opportunity. He opened his jaws and sunk his teeth down into the wolves belly. The wolf let out a howl of pain. Balto ripped across the wolfs belly with his front left Canine. The wolfs gut came wide open in a steaming mass that poured out onto the snow. The wolf laid on his back and refused to move, even though it was over for him.

Balto stopped momentarily to take in all the action around him. The fight had only been going on for thirty seconds but already the snow was covered with blood and dead animals. There were dead dogs and dead wolves, lying sometimes with their jaws around one another's throats, a few others with each others severed throats in their mouths. The ones who were still alive had their jaws wrapped around each others muzzles and shaking each other around like rag dolls. Blood flew from all around Balto and fell on him like rain.

Balto looked up the hill and could see Kodi just making his way up into the tree line. Balto had to go up there and help him. Balto took four steps uphill before three blood covered wolves surrounded him.

One of them was clearly missing an eye while the second one looked much older than the first. The third one was right in the middle, not to old and not too young.

They lowered their head and flattened their ears back against their skulls in a threatening manner. Their body's were hung low to the ground.

Balto knew that he couldn't take all three of them on in one shot, he had to run.

Balto took off through the crowds of fighting growling blood slaughtering dogs and wolves. He led the three wolves, who ran one in front of the other, out away from the large mass of dogs and wolves and towards a steep looking area where the river cut into the bank.

Balto glanced off to his right and could see that he was running along the top of a cliff, he hadn't expected there to be a cliff here; the river was nearly fifty feet below him and he could see that it would get higher the further he went. Then the cliff took a dramatic turn up the hill and Balto found himself stuck at the edge of the cliff.

Balto slid to a stop and looked over the edge of the cliff. He could see the snow lining the slightly flat spots on the cliff where the snow would collect.

Balto turned and lowered himself to the snow, with ears down, teeth bared, and growling. The wolves slowed up but didn't stop. The one with one eye jumped up into the air and landed atop Balto.

Balto felt the weight of the wolf push his feet back through the snow and begin to slid over the edge. His shoulders suffered and creaked under the weight of the wolf and were on the verge of collapsing. Then he slipped.

Balto felt his left back foot drop out from under him and his belly slam into the earth. His shoulders broke away under the weight of the massive wolf and Balto now lay on his stomach, slowly beginning to slide over the cliff. Balto struggled to get the weight removed from his shoulders before he, and the wolf on him, slid over the edge to there certain doom.

Balto's mind raced. Neither he or the wolf were trying to fight, but why wasn't the wolf trying to get off. Why weren't the other wolves trying to attack him? Unless they were waiting to see what Balto was going to do.

Balto tried to remember the lay of the cliff below him. He thought back in his mind, there was no place that he could hope and jump to because it was too steep. But then he felt it, a rock on the edge of the cliff under his belly, a smooth round granite rock that he could somehow grasp onto and send the wolf to the ice below. It seemed to be his only chance.

Balto no longer tried to hold himself up, but let himself drop over the edge of the cliff. He grasped his paws against one another in preparation to catch his, and possibly the wolfs, weight on the rock. Hope it would hold. Balto caught his weight with a heave from his chest, his arms grasping the rock and holding tight.

The wolf slid over the edge with Balto and when Balto caught himself the wolf fell. He tumbled over backwards once, he hit headfirst on a sandy side of the cliff, and flipped end over end at least three more times before slamming through the thick river ice.

But Balto hadn't a second to even see if the wolf came back to the surface. The wolves were instantly back on him growling and snarling literally just in front of his nose. The older wolf snapped down and sunk his teeth into Balto's paw. Balto screamed out in pain and could feel his grip loosening. There was no way that Balto was going to be able to save himself, he needed help.

"get away from him." he heard the small easily recognizable voice of star.

Balto glanced out of the corner of his eye and could see star running up to the wolves. Balto winced at the thought of the wolf just whipping around and ripping stars head from his shoulders.

Star ran up and bit down hard on the back leg of the older wolf. The older wolf turned, and without even taking a glance at star, flipped him over with his front paws and crushed him down into the snow. The other wolf turned away from Balto and proceeded to watch the older one attack the young dog. It was time for Balto to move.

Balto heaved with his muscles, the burning sensation ripping at his shoulder muscles and making him want to scream out. He kicked his legs at the cliff face under him, pushing his hips up and out away from the cliff. Balto brought his front feet up onto the snow atop the cliff and dug forward.

The second wolf noticed Balto to late. Balto was already standing at the edge of the cliff and snarling at him. It had only taken Balto two, maybe three, seconds to get up the cliff but it felt like forever.

Balto instantly dove onto the wolf who was attacking star and ripped at the wolfs back. The second wolf leapt atop Balto and bit down hard on his shoulder. Balto had had it. Something inside Balto had broke, something inside his mind had broke, it was time to fight. Balto turned, red eyed, to the wolf who had just sunk his teeth into his shoulder and with one quick strike left the wolf lying on the ground with a throat slashed ear to ear.

The second wolf had seen this and knew that he didn't want to mess with Balto. He turned and ran down along the edge of the cliff with his tale between his legs. Balto hadn't expected it to be that easy.

Then Balto heard a scream from the top of the hill just down under the trees. Balto turned his head up the hill. at any moment he expected to see Kodi and clover come running side by side down the hill, each smiling and elevated excitement over their victory. But they didn't come.

Several seconds passed and still nothing happened. Balto gave a short gasp of shock just before running up the hill. He ran forward, his paws reaching out for every inch of ground that he could put under his toes, his mind revolving around the thousands of ways that this could turn out. He kept imagining that Kodi was held down by the leader, or that the leader was holding clover to the snow and Kodi stood by growling at him. But the one that he wanted the most was to come over the rise and see Kodi nuzzling clover and that it had been a victory.

Balto bound up the hill and could see the bases of the trees just coming into sight. And as quickly as Balto could see it he knew what had happened.

The leader of the pack lay dead, his back up against the base of a tree in a puddle of his own blood, there was a long gash across his throat from ear to ear, and some bloody piece of flesh in his mouth that oozed a slow trickle of blood.

Balto turned his head and could see Kodi in between two large pines nearly twenty feet away. He lay with his back to Balto over a large furry mound. Clover. Balto slowly stepped forward through the snow towards Kodi and stopped ten feet from him. Clover lay on her left side, a pool of blood beginning to form under her fur. Balto glanced back at the alpha male and remember the bloody tissue in his mouth. Her throat.

Balto listened to Kodi sob and whisper tiny little, useless, words of hope into her ear. Balto shook his head, he couldn't stand to listen to his son loose his entire future. His entire life.

He turned and walked back down the hill to greet the dogs that had just won the battle of their lives.


	16. End

**Chapter 16**

Jenna was sitting on the very end of a building which provided a excellent view of the area where the returning dogs would come up off of the river. She sat on a large wooden crate with the light of a nearby lantern shining across the crate and lighting up her shoulder and the tip of her muzzle.

Jenna had been sitting here for several hours in the midst of her own thought. She feared for clover and couldn't imagine what it would be like, the fear that she must be feeling, the way the wolves might be treating her.

She also feared for Kodi. Kodi was injured and going after wolves who didn't care. Jenna thought about what would happen if Kodi lost his foot, it would be horrible.

Jenna was a little bit surprised by herself that she wasn't fearing as much as she should for Balto. But she figured that it was just because Balto had been a child of the woods and she knew somehow that he would be just fine. She also knew that Balto would do his best to protect Kodi and to save clover

"Oh I hope your all all right." she muttered to herself then bit her lip realizing that she wasn't the only one in the alley.

She turned her head to the right across the mouth of the alley to see ten or so dogs standing apart and at different areas across the alley. They all sat with their back to the lantern light, their shadows being cast out across the snow towards the darkness of the night. They were all waiting for a loved one or a friend to return. Each of them had a look of fear in their eyes and body language. They hardly moved from the spot they were at so they wouldn't miss anything if it happened. Their eyes were wide and all seeing. Then Jenna thought that she probably looked the same.

She was just about to turn her head back when she noticed someone familiar out of the corner of her eye. Dixie. Jenna hadn't talked to Dixie in a while, they were still friends but Jenna had been always busy for one thing or another. Dixie had the same fearful stance and look on her face as the rest of the dogs in the alley.

Why would she be waiting out here, then Jenna got it. Star. Dixie had never really showed any feelings for star, but maybe she had some secret feeling for him.

Jenna turned and looked one more time out at the riverbank to make sure nothing was happening. Then she turned and stepped off the box and moved over across the street towards Dixie.

Dixie saw Jenna coming and knew that she had seen the look on her face. Dixie instantly made her look like she was curious about what's going on, puffed her chest out and met Jenna halfway across the street.

"Hi Jenna. I was just searching for you." Dixie turned and sat down in the snow looking out at the river. Jenna sat down in the snow next to her facing the same way.

"So what are you doing out here Dixie?"

"I was searching for you. I already told you that." she smiled at Jenna letting her teeth show a little bit. But she turned back to the river and let her face drop into that fearful state for just a second. And in that second Jenna caught her.

"Your worried for him, aren't you?"

Dixie gave a quick angry glare at Jenna, but knew that it was true. Besides Jenna was a true friend, she could tell her. "Yes. I am afraid for him. I'm afraid that he's not going to come back, and I wont be able to tell him how a feel about him."

Jenna smiled down at Dixie who glanced up at Jenna when she did. "Don't worry, I'm sure my Balto wont let anything happen to his true friend."

"I hope so."

They both paused for a moment to scan the edge of the river. It was hard to see the river edge in the high light of the alley. Jenna thought for a moment that she would invite Dixie to come sit with her on the large crate where it would be easier to see.

"I don't really know why I like him…Its just that…I don't know." Dixie was flustered by her lack of knowledge.

"I think it's probably because he likes you, and no one has ever really showed you such affection."

"I don't really ever recall him showing his affection to me." Dixie said depressed.

"Well he really does…" Dixie glanced up at Jenna in hope. "He always tells Balto how good you look and how you are always the highlight of his day."

"Really?"

"Really."

Dixie nodded her head in agreement. She felt much better now.

"There." someone in front of Jenna called out. "There coming."

Jenna looked up over the crowd of dogs to see a line of dogs moving there way up the riverbank and out on to the snow. It was hard to see who was walking in front, but with every dog that came up out of the riverbank she began to feel better because it was another chance that they were all all right.

The dogs in the alley bolted forward searching for their loved ones and friends. They bolted forward so fast that Jenna was left standing by herself in the alley.

Jenna ran forward and quickly made it through the dogs that had been in the alley and out into the front, where she began to search for clover, Kodi, and Balto. She slowed down as she reached the dog that was walking in front, it wasn't Balto. The dog was covered with blood from nose to tail and really seemed to tired to tell Jenna anything if she asked him

The returning dogs all clustered around into one large group as they came out off the ice. They all searched for a loved one, or if there was no one waiting for them, they went right on by and on into town.

Jenna searched through the dogs, but they all looked the same and she couldn't tell any of them apart. When it hit her that she should call out there name.

"Balto? Balto?" she called out but no answer came. "Balto where are you?" Jenna began to picture the worst of what could of happened. She pictured Balto laying in a bloody tore up mess in the snow, in some god forgotten land.

But her concentration of this picture was broke when she noticed a blood covered dog walking towards her. She noticed that he was walking with a limp.

"Kodi?… Kodiak, is that you?"

Kodi raised his head slight to see who was calling him name out. But as soon as he saw who it was he dropped his head.

"Kodi, where's clover?"

Kodi moved slowly by her, never bothering to raise his head or even say high. He continued on by, limping through the crowd of talking chattering dogs and on down the alley.

"Hey Jenna."

Jenna turned to see a blood covered wolfish dog looking straight at her. Balto. Balto took one quick step and nuzzled up against her. But Jenna had to know. She stepped back from Balto's nuzzle.

"Where's clover?"

Balto lowered his head and remained silent.

"didn't you win. I mean I looks like most everyone came home."

Balto paused to summon up the words but only one set of words came to his mouth. He raised his head silently, cleared his throat. "we won…he lost."

Jenna's mouth dropped, she needed all she needed to. Jenna turned and looked back at Kodi who was limping off down the street. Balto stepped closer and put his head over her back and against Jenna's. Then they both stood in the midst of the cheering winning dogs, watching their son walk off into the night with the life he could have had forgotten.

**End **


End file.
